A mole's behind

4. Melon juice and clumsy cats

Summary of last chapter for TW people:

Iskall gets doubts if Grian is OK with his reaction. He remembers his ex-boyfriend Åke, with whom he broke up because Åke was jealous to the point of becoming violent. Iskall has sworn to himself never to be as jealous as him.

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POV Grian
It had just been one look! Why did Iskall have to see it? Why did I even look?
It's not like he thought anything between Mumbo and him was ever gonna work out. He'd given up on that ages ago. So many times, he wanted to flirt with him, but couldn't, just couldn't. And subtle hints had gone unnoticed. Why did Mumbo have to be so obtuse?

And how on earth did Iskall have the confidence to ask him out? Flirting was the hardest thing in the world! Even more so, when you were gay, you were just so unlikely to have your feelings returned.
Still Iskall didn't seem to be bothered when he advanced on Grian. How could he be so calm, when Grian found the same thing incredibly hard? He sure was something, that Iskall. Grian smiled to himself. Iskall was pretty awesome and the calm he had in social situations fascinated him. He wondered just what it would take to throw him off his track. He bit his lip in a grin as mischievous ideas flooded his head.

They had arrived at Iskall's underwater base, swimming to the small private living room where Iskall spent his free time. Thanks to Iskall's heart of the sea they didn't have to bother with becoming dry.

POV Iskall

"Hey Iskall," he heard Grian say in a playful tone. Iskall had just taken off his gloves and was busy untying his shoes. He lifted his head to look up at Grian, when he was toppled over by the smaller man jumping at him. Iskall squeaked, trying to keep the upper hand. His bumbonious moustache fell off, it had just been glued to his upper lip. The two rolled over the carpet in laughter until Iskall felt his arms being pinned to the floor. He looked up excitedly at Grian smirking. "Got ya," Grian said. Iskall grinned up at him. "So?" he said.

Grian raised a brow. He leaned forward slowly, bringing his face closer to Iskall's. As his weight shifted, Iskall suddenly noticed all too well, that Grian was in fact sitting on top of him.
His face became hot from all the pictures his mind produced for that feeling, when he felt a quick peck on his lips.

He looked up at Grian who was grinning from ear to ear. That evil man! He was quite sure, that by now Grian could feel what his actions were doing to him, but he was still restraining the bearded man. Iskall struggled against the hands binding him. "Let me go, you sneaky blaze," he demanded.
"What do I gain from that?" was the amused reply. "I quite like you down there."
"Down there, huh?" Iskall wiggled his brows suggestively in response and Grian went a furiously red colour. He bolted and snatched a blanket to hide beneath on the couch.

Iskall chuckled. Grian had a lot of confidence, but he still found the dents in it that turned the red-shirted man into a blushing mess. His thoughts returned to where they were when he was untying his shoes. There was still talking to do.

After a bit of thinking - and blood flowing back to its usual places - Iskall scrambled up and fished for a blanket himself, then prepared a comfortable nest next to the messy pile that still hid his boyfriend. "What do you want to drink? I have melon and pumpkin juice."

"Melon," said the blanket. He poured two glasses, set them on the table and snuggled into his blanket nest. From the further end of the pile of blankets appeared a pair of eyes. He grinned at them and they quickly disappeared, only to come up again seconds later.

They repeated this little game for a while, Grian giggling and Iskall responding with funny faces. Then Iskall reached for his melon juice and dramatically took a great swig. "You should try this, it's really tasty." Even the smell was fruity and savoury.
Grian sat up next to him, reached for the juice and tasted it. Iskall watched his eyes widen in surprise. "Oh wow, it really is tasty! Where did you get that from?"
"I started a farm in the sandy kingdom last week. I think the secret is skylight access, they just don't get as fruity when you grow them underground."
"This is seriously cool. You should open a juice shop in the shopping district or something."