talking to him

the day

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊

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karl's world spins around him as he is tugged by his arm, everything moving so quickly that he is hit by a sudden dizzy spell that leaves his head reeling as he tries to balance himself.

the door he was tugged through slams shut, and it takes a moment for him to blink back into the moment and process that he has been pulled into an empty conference room.

he shifts, turning to find ryan standing beside him, the older man's hand still with a firm grip on karl's elbow.

"wh-" he goes to speak, but the words are cut off with a grunt as his back hits the door behind him and ryan forces himself onto karl, their lips colliding in a harsh clash of teeth.

karl's body moves instinctively, putting his upper body strength into pushing the other away from him as he gasps for a breath after the shock. "what the fuck?" he spits out.

his godfather reaches for him again and karl quickly ducks under his arm, escaping around him and leaving ryan to hit into the door himself as karl takes a few backwards steps further into the room and away from ryan.

the older man turns, looking enraged, and karl is filled with genuine fear at the look in ryan's eyes. it's not new for him to be touchy, but ryan's harassment is usually prologued by some forced flirting or crude comments. karl struggles to remember another time when the other threw himself onto karl like he is now, and the anger in his boss's eyes only makes it worse.

"what are you doing?" karl asks, praying to any god that the desperate question might bring ryan back from whatever crazed mindset he is in.

the older man has clearly never been right in the head, to prey on karl as a child and abuse him as an adult, but he's never seemed this terrifying.

"do you not remember?" ryan asks, stepping closer, and karl glances around for something he can use to protect himself but comes up empty-handed. "you owe me, karl. we agreed. you said you understand."

karl barely remembers the conversation ryan is referring to, with all the turmoil that's been happening in his mind recently, but even when it comes back to him he wonders if he's missed something. he knew, even then, that ryan was hinting at a sexual favour, but the older man is trying to play it out like karl agreed to this, rather than simply conceding in a moment of rational fear.

is that how it would seem to other people? like karl wanted this from the start.

if sapnap saw the way that karl nodded along when ryan proposed that karl 'owed him' not long ago, would the ravenette see it in the same light? would he think karl is cheating?

karl has to take a mental step back and ask: is he cheating?

surely cheating just means to have a secret relationship with someone who isn't your partner? is that not exactly what is happening? it's not like karl has ever tried to tell sapnap.

the brunette yelps, pulled out of his thoughts, when he is pushed back against the table, feeling how the wood digs into the back of his thighs as ryan pushes against him.