Liam was comfortable, really, when he first woke up, warm and settled and just generally good. There was a source of heat coming from ehind him--a pillow, or an excess of blanket, he thought, and either way, he was certainly cuddling back into it, until it made anoise and nuzzled into his neck. In fact, when that happened, he went very still, trying to figure out who was behind him, and then suddenly his memory was back, supplying him with what happened last night, and oh shit, this is probably Levi. He rolled his lips over his teeth, thinking about ways to difuse this ticking time bomb. There really was no other way to get rid of it than to let it explode, so he just closed his eyes and slipped through Levi's arms, his bare arms that would undoubtedly lead to a bare chest and stop thinking about that, Liam. Levi only groaned at the loss of Liam in his arms, clutching the pillow where Liam's head had been and instead wrapping himself around it. Liam smiled at the childish act, at how Levi's hair stuck up in all directions and how boyish he looked.
He figured, however, that he should be out of here very soon if Levi doesn't want him anywhere near his personal life, only his work life, so he grabbed his suit, draping it over his arm and left the room after waking Levi up--at least he'd have done one thing for his own closure on knowing Levi personally- and left, getting not a limo to carry him to his home, but a smaller car, though still nice and shiny and black.
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When Levi walked into the office, Liam had shaken his head at his tie, a mess of a knot done at the top and the skinny bit was hanging in front of the part that was supposed to cover it. He got up, going over to Levi's desk and tugging at his collar, urging him to come closer to him without having to say anything. Levi complied, rolling his chair from his computer behind the desk that Liam was standing in front of and let Liam be able to touch his neck, almost smiling at the familiarity of how Liam's wrist moved roughly, how a bit of fabric slapped against his neck, how Liam's cold fingers touched his collar. It was all very familiar and it was comforting after how he'd stressed about the damn cloth this morning.
When Liam was done, he straightened it, pulled Levi's collar down again and smiled at him politely, going back to his desk. Levi felt a bit hollow at the lack of a snarky comment, the words that he was certain Liam was keeping barred behind his teeth hanging between them heavily, a teasing of how close the business associates had actually been, how they'd actually been friends. Levi let out a shallow, disappointed breath and rolled back to his desktop, occasionally picking up the phone when Liam told him he was giving him a call.
Liam answered the phone another time, because it was ringing on its own, not because Liam had directed him the line, setting it on speaker so he wouldn't have to stop typing out his email. "Hello sweetie!" He heard, and he he took a deep breath at his mother's voice, grasping tightly to his shreds of sanity so that he didn't yell at her in his office. "Hey mom," he said nonchalantly, appearing uneffected by it. Behind him Liam picked up his cup of coffee, downing a large swig and forgetting to put it down because he was listening so intently to Levi and his mothers' conversation.
"I just wanted to tell you I think you did a good job," she said, and Levi hummed. "Really?" He asked, tone flat and him not really meaning the question.
"Oh, yes. That boy Liam of yours is a fine boy indeed. I think you two are excellent lovers," she said, and Liam fumbled his coffee cup in surprise, and Levi stopped his mad flurry of typing. Behind him he heard Liam curse quietly and a rustling sound as he got up to insect the damage done to his desk. Levi swallowed thickly.
"Well, that's a shame, because we're not," he said, recomposing himself and beginning to type again, though his face was turning as pink as a flamingo and he could feel nervousness twisting around his stomach--nothing much different for Liam, whose mind was also, on top of these things, chanting ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit as he tested his keyboard to see if it was usable. It wasn't.
"I never... Well, Levi, I never would've guessed. You should've see the way you two were looking at each other. Oh, it was adorable, too, how you bantered. A classic high school crush, I'd say, going on between you two-" she continued, though Levi ended the call before anything else could be said.
He didn't turn around to see Liam's face for fear of the fact that he was snickering at him, or how awkward eye contact would be, so he avoided him and Liam did likewise, only exchanging words when necassary and under no circumstances touching each other in any way, not even on accident. Liam didn't even hold open the door for Levi when they left.
And so the next few days went by, the same rules as above following each day, Levi eventually opting out of ties because no way in hell was Liam risking being that close to him with that phone call still fresh on his memory. Today, however, Levi seemed particularly irritable, walking into their office with his hand closed around something delicately. He stopped in front of Liam's desk, holding out that hand, showing a dark purple tie. "Tie this on me, please," he said, not caring that that comment could be taken awkwardly, or incorrectly, just irritated that they had let his bitch of a mother affect their relationship this much further. It was disappointing enough not to have Liam in his day to day, normal life, but this whole 'don't look dont tocuh don't talk don't think' thing had been going on long enough and today, it ended. He'd get his answer on the matter and that'd be that.
Liam obeyed him, standing up and walking around his desk so that he was standing below him, taking the tie and slipping it over his head, standing on his toes to do so, and he raised Levi's collar and lined it up along there, and began working the intricate knot that made a tie. Levi seemed even more tense by the time he finished, pressing his collar against his shoulders and the back of his neck and buttoning the lapels to the shirt. It was odd to be this close to him again.
"Are you gay?" Levi said suddenly, and Liam blinked in surprise. "What?" He asked. The word seemed to be becoming a trademark for him.
"You heard me," Levi said, corssing his arms. Liam mistook it for anger at him, not what it really was, and he replied, with his best acting, "No."
