Creating the Magic of Us

Chapter 10

Anti knew that his sliding out of the small trailer would not go unnoticed. Even though, the green eyed man moved as silently as he could as he crept back inside of the world he shared with Damien. In his right hand he held the neck of his violin as tightly as he dared, not wanting to risk it slipping from the slight shake of his grip. Melded into the scarlet blankets of their bed the other man laid as still as a statue. The warm sounds of slumber made the bare chest rise and fall over and over again.

Not thinking of anything but placing himself back under the bedsheets, Anti undressed quickly. Then nude and slightly breathless, his slithered onto the mattress, and waited. If Damien was actually asleep, he would know very soon.  Anti held his breath and listened for a change of rhythm, but everything remained the same. Then feeling like his lungs would burn like lava if he didn't finally relax, he exhaled into the cool air of the night.

Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to remember what had happened. The smell of Marvin's skin still lingered in his nose. A mixture of lavender and honey, wrapped in white like the angel he destined to resemble. Even now, if Anti focused his attention enough, he could still feel the pressure of the magician's fingertips in the palms of his hands. The way that the starlight danced in the crystal blue eyes and rounded pink lips as he was smiled upon, as if he was truly remarkable. 

Anti sighed loudly, and then realized his mistake. The shift in the bedsheets and warmth snaking around his waist told him volumes without speaking a word. 

"Where did you go tonight?"

The rich baritone of Damien's timbre was always even keeled, that no one, not even Anti, could truly tell what emotions were under the surface by just the voice. It was always the fire breather's face that gave him away. The flash of red light in the dark pools of his gaze. The slight flare of his nostrils when he knew he was being fed a lie. It wasn't as if Damien was violent with Anti. Far from it, as a matter of fact, but the fear that his presence could muster had always been part of their relationship. A bubbling rage just below the surface, and Anti needed to tread this water carefully.

"Playing under the stars," Anti said, his tone hopefully casual. "I'm startled that you couldn't hear anything."

The arms adjusted, and Anti braced for the tanned face pulling him towards the muscled chest. Damien did, and soon the sword swallower was twisting around to look into the handsome face of his lover. He needed to stay calm. Lean into the story that he was about to spin like the acrobat he needed to be.

"I did hear your violin," Damien muttered, his brown eyes so much more piercing when the blue contacts weren't in. "Stunning as ever, but what I question is why you stopped in the middle of your song. You never do that...unless you were interrupted."

This was a curve that Anti had not counted on, but Damien was right, now thinking back on what occurred. The ballad that Anti had been serenading the trees all around him had not been completed. Marvin had come towards him with such beauty and purpose that Anti had frozen in place. Had even apologized the white haired man for disturbing his sleep with his tune.

"Saw something in the clearing," Anti muttered much too quickly, and Damien's raised eyebrows confirmed this. "Ended up being nothing but a bird, or something like that. I must be getting jumpy in my old age."

Anti smiled, trying to press into the joke, but Damien did not mirror his expression. If anything, he was looking even deeper into the green eyes for signs of what really had happened.

"Perhaps you shouldn't be out at night, darling...if the simple flutter of the wings of a bird causes you such a start. Your lovely melodies should never be silenced."

This was of course meant to cause a reaction. Anti was aware of this too, and sure enough the piercing stare had returned with a purpose. A subtle dance of their wills to see who would crack into pieces first. Anti willed himself to keep it together. To not allow Damien to find a way to gently control his nighttime strolls as much as so many other things in his life. 

"I'm just on edge because of the new sword routines Mark is wanting me to learn for the new show," Anti says quickly. "I'm sure I'll be - "

"Mark has you learning another routine, does he?"

The flare of the nostrils and Anti's muscles tensed. Why in the hell would he put Mark into this conversation, when he was trying his best to lead this away from Marvin, and not towards it?

"It's fine," Anti soothes, bringing his hand to cup Damien's jaw. "Nothing that I can't handle with a little more time, Dame. Please...don't make this a bigger issue than it is."

Damien was deep in thought by the hum that escaped from his lips, and as if to keep the follow up questions at bay, Anti pushed himself onto the other man's mouth. Held himself there, firmly pressed in until finally the large mouth parted to allow Anti to kiss him like Damien needed it to stop the third degree. The strong hands to rub onto the tattooed skin like fire and smoke and everything different than the softness of the magician in white. Damien and Anti would kiss until it became more. A collection of heavy breathing and half formed curses. It wasn't what Anti truly wanted anymore, but it would quench his thirst until the cold waters of the crystal blue eyes returned to him.

Even if only in his dreams for now.