Right Back After This

Episode 10

"How long do you need?" is what Riz says. Ten minutes is long enough to give what he wants to give, right?

Ares tilts Riz's head up to look at him- as Riz caresses the erection underneath the fabric of his pants, the real cotton. "A little longer than you," he says with a grin. Ares is the kind of attractive that men on billboards are; he's got sharp, even features, the kind of white teeth that look impossible, the very image of tall, dark and handsome. It makes him appear unreal. It makes him not appear quite like a person. "Fair warning, baby, we don't have enough time for both of us."

Riz was made to look unreal, with surgeries that blinded him for a month and chemical treatments on every part of his body. He can see the person underneath when he looks in the mirror, can see what was stripped away. If he squints, he can sometimes try to see the actual person beneath Amello's disguise, beneath Kiel's; but when he observes him through his lashes, he can't quite see the actual person beneath Ares' facade. The facade is only golden earrings that drip down his neck, skin as heavily treated and perfectly unmarked as Riz's. Is there a person under there, or is privilege all he's got?

For Riz's purposes, does it matter?

He fumbles to find the latch of Ares' belt. "Then you'll owe me one," Riz says, as he finally finds how to undo it. "Alongside the promise you already owe me."

Ares is hard to read. He keeps his face even; he smiles when he thinks he should, but in that moment his eyes widen. It might be surprise, or it might be arousal, but it's only for a split second, as Ares leans back- with a hasty nod to what Riz said.

Riz wonders why him. He's not exactly sure if he's doing this the way people are supposed to, but he knows so little about Ares that he hasn't a clue what he expects. Is Riz's awkward shuffle to bring Ares' pants down far enough that he can reach his cock somehow sexy? Does Ares have a gauge for that, some dozens of past lovers he can compare Riz to? Was he attracted to Riz's apparent innocence in the first place? Is it cute somehow, the way Riz stares for a moment too long at Ares' dick, lost?

He runs his fingers up it, slowly, like he's never seen a cock before, and Ares shivers at the touch. It's funny, how much Riz wanted this, specifically. Sure, his body has its own needs, but in many ways, the pent-up frustration was mental, too; the constant denial that he wanted things he really, truly did makes it so, so satisfying to kneel down, to pull Ares closer to him. The thing that makes Ares' cock taste good when he lays his tongue on it is only that it is forbidden fruit.

Has he done this before? It's hard to even remember. Part of his story he's not allowed to tell is that desperate people were desperate for relief, and Riz spent some of his teenage years so high that his body never fully recovered. In the dark, huddled on dirty mattresses sharing dirty needles, teenagers will do whatever they will do, and it's all a haze.

Ares' sudden- and sharp- grip on Riz's hair makes it thoughtless, easy in that way. He guides him, gentle at first, and Riz focuses on the movement of his tongue, savouring the quiet, almost imperceptible moans that Ares is giving, giving away that he likes it. It's not too long before Ares is pulling too hard, pushing too far, but it seems he enjoys the way Riz struggles to breathe, and Riz is torn between the discomfort of it physically and the fact that he's doing this, he's breaking every rule, and nobody will ever be able to prove it. No matter what else they can prove, this is not on camera, it's not recorded. This exact moment is his, and only his- it's barely even Ares'.

At one point, Riz pulls back, just to look up at Ares with wide eyes. Their gazes meet, and Ares' expression is far away in bliss, and Riz just pouts, plays a game similar to the one he plays every day, but fundamentally different. "Be careful with me," he says in a subdued, sweet voice, testing the theory that Ares likes his innocence.