six
Michael swayed with the subway as it stopped at its second station. He held tighter to the metal pole, trying his best not to fall onto Luke. "When I offered you my seat, I didn't actually wanna give you my seat," Mike told his coworker.
"Then you shouldn't have offered me your seat," he responded, not looking up from his copy of The New York Times.
"Whatever," the twenty-eight year old sighed, "it's good to give my seats to the elder anyways." He reached into the inseam pocket of his jacket, pulling out his bag of gummy bears and picking up a few red ones.
Luke looked up at him for the first time that morning. He scanned Mike's pale hands as they reached into his jacket to grab more of the sugar-y snack. "I'm not that old and you shouldn't eat those."
"Stop sucking the fun out of everything, Grandpa." Michael looked down at him, giving him a half smirk.
Luke rolled his eyes before making direct eye contact with pretty green ones. He furrowed his eyebrows as he noticed a bruise below Mike's right eye. "That bruise makes you uglier."
Mike reached his hand up to the small bruise from tripping down his apartment steps and into a potted plant. He put his hand down, pointing a finger at Luke, "That's fucking rude." An idea popped up into Michael's brain that brought a smile wider to his face. "It's okay, Honey," Michael said, louder this time, "I know you didn't mean it."
"What are you doing?" Luke asked, folding his newspaper and sitting up straighter.
"I know it was an accident," Mike sighed as he leant against the subway pole, "it's always an accident."
A few heads around them turned up, eyes flickering between the two coworkers.
"Uh, we aren't a couple, he's just making a scene," Luke said to the scared-looking woman across from them.
"That's what he tells his mother," the black-haired boy tsked as he, too, talked to the crowd now focused on them. "It's really not his fault, my husband here has a problem," Michael made the 'drinking' sign with his hands, pretending to swallow down a beer before gesturing to Luke. "We're working on our problems every day, don't worry."
A middle-aged woman put her hand on Michael's shoulder, patting his back.
"Michael, I'm gonna get arrested, stop saying that."
Mike looked at Luke then back to the ladies giving him attention. "He's getting better," he gestured up to his bruised eye, "This was just a slip up, you know what I mean?" Michael loved two things: Attention and making Luke angry.
"I did not do that," the doctor said, annoyance rising with every word.
"Dr. Irwin said acceptance is the first step, Baby." Michael turned his head until the compassionate crowd around him couldn't see his face anymore. He smiled at his fake-husband, licking over his lips and tilting his head to an angle.
"Guys, guys, this is my coworker. I did not do that to him, he just wants attention." Luke could feel his palms sweating as he got glares from half the subway.
"He doesn't give me attention anymore, you know? Like, we used to love each other. We were high school sweethearts."
"We're seven years apart, we didn't even go to the same high school." Luke stood up, ready to pull Michael the second the subway stopped at their station. "Michael, seriously, you're gonna get me kicked out."
Mike shook his head with the group of ladies once more. "We're getting help," he put an hand to his chest and wiped a fake tear away, "I'll be okay." He turned around, placing his fingers in Luke's. They entwined hands, Michael leading them to the closest exit.
Luke didn't open his mouth, his breathing stopped and pulse heat up as he looked at the younger man pulling his hand. Why was that so hot? Why was that turning him on? He jumped off the tracks, suddenly craving Michael's warmth as their hands dropped.
Their subway rolled away as Michael broke out into laughter. Heaving, bellowing laughter left his throat as he bent over, leaning on his knees.
Luke got back into reality as he ran a hand over his face. "What the fuck was that, Dude? I'm not gonna be allowed back on the subway!"
"It was funny!" Mike wiped real tears from his eyes, still giggling to himself. "You should've seen your face, Man. I'm such a good actor." He turned around, adjusting his coat and heading out to their exit.
"That wasn't funny! Making fun of abuse isn't funny either!" Luke ran to catch up with him, pulling the back of his jacket until he stayed next to the blonde.
"I'm sorry, you're right. It was a little funny, though."
"You're such a child," Luke said, a little angry at his coworker.
"Nah, you love me," Michael responded, quickly turning around to catch a glance of the blonde.
Luke rolled his eyes, "I just wanted to read my newspaper. I'm never taking the subway with you again."
Michael held open the glass door to their office, letting him walk in first. "Yeah, yeah, I'll see you on the evening tram."
There was something about Michael that drove Luke insane.
