New York (LoW prompt: Bubble)

[killingsoftly]

The first couple of days had been like in a dream of pure joy. He still had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't actually dreaming, that it all was real. That more than just the fact that Warren was with him, that Warren loved him. That he ... even in his head he stumbled over the word, but he managed it...loved Warren.

There was fear there, too. Always fear, of what he could do. Of what he'd done before. That Warren would wake up one day and realize just who and what he was in bed with. That Warren didn't know the worst of it. The lives he'd taken knowingly. Purposefully.

That the full knowledge of him would burst the bubble of happiness they were floating in.

He pulled on his leather pants and shrugged into his silk shirt. Earring in, just one, shirt half unbuttoned. He added a touch of eyeliner, something to draw eyes to his. Nothing too elaborate. Nothing like what he'd paraded around in the years of Glam. But a touch. He was tousling his hair, adding in gel when his cell rang.

He glanced at the number and sighed. He almost didn't answer, but he finally did. He wondered how she'd known he was in town.

"Brenda."

"Devin, darling," her voice was always so chipper and yet refined. "You naughty boy, you didn't call and tell me you were in town."

He continued to fuss with his hair. "No, I didn't."

"I thought that was our arrangement."

"It's not? I call when I need work, luv, but currently I'm doing just fine." He wasn't, really, but his investments would hold. He'd saved well. He could afford to not have to work for her for a while.

"Devin..." She sounded like she was chiding him. "Kathryn saw your poster. She'd like to see you after the show."

"Not possible." He slapped on the aftershave a little too vehemently.

"And why not?"

"I have plans." He swallowed, closing his eyes as he prepared to cut the ties. "Rather permanent ones."

There was a long pause on the other end. "You're quitting?"

He took a deep breath. "Yeah. I am."

"You can't do that. You're my most successful..."

"Everyone quits at some point, Brenda. You did."

"You're at your peak!"

"I'm done." For now.

"Devin...you've always said..."

"I know." He leaned against the counter.

"You're the best."

He sighed, closing his eyes. "Yeah. I know." It was his particular gift. "I'm still done, at least for now, okay?"

Another long pause and then a sigh. "She must be something."

He smiled a little. "He is."

She chuckled at that. "Kathryn will still be there tonight."

"I'll deal with her."

"She's a very important client."

"I'll deal with her nicely."

"If you ever..."

"Yeah, I know. I'll call."

She sighed one more time and then he heard the click. He set the phone aside, closing his eyes again and rubbing his temples.

He'd need to book more gigs, for the energy and the money. Cut new CDs and push them. Maybe actually put up a website with ordering. Something to bring money in to keep them going. And he'd have to make these phone calls in most major cities in America.

It wasn't going to be easy, but he just...he didn't know what Warren would say. Didn't want to find out, if it disappointed him. Didn't...He wanted them to stay as happy as they were. Whatever it took. He'd just have to pull more from the audience. Take from them what he couldn't get elsewhere. He could make it work. He gave a resolute nod, and reached to work on messing his hair up just a bit more.

Comments

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

Warren kissed his cheek again, thoughts sliding through his mind and pulling themselves together. He'd done this before, but so far only with girls. He wasn't sure if there was a gender difference or if Devin would even appreciate...

Hell with it. Devin seemed to like that sort of thing anyway, judging by their first weekend in New York.

He slid Devin off his lap, gently tugging his shirt out of his waistband. His fingers moved lightly over his stomach and sides as he did so, soft little touches, not meaning to be sexual. Just touching.

"Let's get you undressed, then."

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin was watching him, still with that little smile. The small touches were soothing, with his heart still feeling like it might stop suddenly.

His fingers moved to his top button, undoing them down his shirt, and then shrugging out of it and tossing it aside.

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

Warren was careful as he stripped his pants off, careful not to touch in any really sexual way. For once, given their activities the rest of the New York trip.

Granted, it wasn't like the last time, and Devin could probably undress himself. But it was cute, and it was affectionate, and it was reassuring that they were still a couple, even if his mind still stumbled over the words.

He hoped, anyway.

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin touched his hair, still hesitant, but tracing over the red strand with the tips of his fingers.

Undressed, he sat on the edge of the tub and fiddled with the knobs to get the temperature right.

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

Warren knelt down beside him, one hand lightly rubbing his back.

".. you gonna be okay here for twenty minutes? I gotta get something..."

And he worried about leaving Devin alone that long. "I'll be right back, promise. Twenty minutes."

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin quirked an eyebrow. "I think I can manage, yeah."

He nodded a little toward the room. "Grab me a beer before you go?"

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

"'kay." He leaned in, kissed his cheek. He had doubts about the advisability of alcohol and bathtubs, but one beer wasn't going to do much. "Sure."

He went over, gave Devin his beer and another kiss, and slipped out.

There was a convenience store, conveniently, not too far down the street. He was out of breath by the time he crashed through the doors.

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin sank down into the tub, sipping his beer with eyes closed. He shouldn't have gotten upset. Warren hadn't pulled away.

But he'd expected him to. He might not have a problem with the things he'd done, but he knew what society in general thought. Of course, he thought they were all hypocrites. It wasn't the world's oldest profession for nothing, but. He shrugged, tried to shake it off.

Being a four on a scale to ten of disturbing wasn't so bad, he supposed. But it was worse than a one, and that it made the scale at all made him uneasy for some of the other things.

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

Warren was thinking more of the fact that he'd been so happy, so elated after the concert. It hadn't been Kathryn who had brought Devin down, it had been him. Because he couldn't leave things alone.

At least the convenience store was bigger than your average gas station shop. They didn't have much of a variety, but they had all the usual stock scents. Vanilla, strawberry, something that claimed it was opium and probably wasn't really. He went more for the vanilla and cinnamon ones. Something natural and home-baked.

Mineral oil went onto the counter too. He glanced at the beer and decided against it, but the liquor store was right next door. Tissues. Two extra boxes. Just in case. It all looked fairly wrong when it was piled up on the counter, but he ignored that part. Aspirin. He didn't know if Devin had any, but you could never have too much. They still had the candy from their Cracker Barrel stop.

He had to take it at a fast walk after a stop in the liquor store, peeling off the little red sticker although Devin probably knew exactly how much most of the better wines that could be found in the area cost. Fuckit. It was one he'd actually recognized, one of the few good nights before...

Fuck that, too. He pushed the thought out of his mind as he pushed the door open to the room, juggling two plastic bags and the wine bottle in the paper sack.

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin was contemplating the beer bottle, only half empty, as if it could give him the answers to questions he couldn't even formulate. He'd washed the sweat away, and dunked under the water, but he'd left his hair for Warren, since he'd offered.

He was trying to get the elation back, or at least the high. He could feel the energy buzzing through his veins and knew that most of his audience would need a few extra hours of sleep. He'd pulled a lot with almost vicious need, determined to make himself safer for Warren, not so hungry. He could feel them now, under his skin and that hadn't gone away.

Generally, he channeled that into sex, but he couldn't seem to bring that edge back to it. He could have taken Warren right there, against the van, so heated had it all been. He could get that back, right? It was what he did...

He sat up a bit when he heard the door open, setting the beer aside.

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

Warren had been swearing as he'd walked into the hotel, forgetting one important detail and not wanting to head back out to remedy that. Thank god for a forgiving hotel kitchen staff and a hotel manager wise in the ways of young men.

"Everything okay in there?" he called, almost with forced cheer, setting the two plastic bags down and the bottle and glasses on the nightstand and digging around in his bag for one of what he called his pirate scarves.

He came back into the bathroom after a moment, twirling it around itself. "Now, it's a surprise.." He was surprised, himself, that his voice was so steady. He couldn't remember being this nervous. "So..."

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin gave him a smile, forcing the wariness back.

"Everything's fine."

He glanced at the scarf with an eyebrow raised. "A surprise?"

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

"Uh-huh."

Gently, carefully, he covered Devin's eyes.

"Won't be a minute." The preparations wouldn't take too long.

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin smiled a bit more in anticipation, wondering what he was planning. He felt bad that Warren felt he had to go to all this, though. He hadn't needed to...

He cut off the thought, determined to shake off the mood and enjoy.

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

Warren gently took the beer bottle away, setting it on the table in the room. He poured the wine out there, taking it in and setting it on the sink for a moment. Then the candles.

They did scent, just a little, as he took them out and set them around the rim of the tub (and thank god it was a decent sized rim) with little 'tik's.

The music, at least, he'd already had. It took a moment of fiddling with the ipod and the speaker hookup, but pretty soon he had the strains of smooth and quiet jazz floating through the rooms.

He knelt back down by the tub, setting one wine glass down and gently tugging the blindfold off with the other hand.

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin blinked adjusting from dark to light, then looked around and smiled.

"This is..." He smiled a bit more, feeling some more of the tension ease away.

"This is really nice."

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

Warren smiled softly, relief washing through him, relaxing him.

"There..." he handed Devin his wine glass. "And..."

The candles made a semi-circle around the front of the tub and to the wall side. Not towards the back, since he still meant to do Devin's hair. But there were enough of them, and more on the sink.

Warren extended a fingertip and fire poured out of it in a thin line, skittering over the candles around the tub and finally coming to a stop at the end. He'd judged it just right, thank god.

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin smiled in delight as the candles lit up, watching the fire spread out from Warren.

He slipped back down into the water a little, fingers curling around the wine glass.

"You didn't have to do all this."

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

Warren shrugged a little, reaching out and up to light the candles over the sink. Then standing to turn off the lights. The candles did give enough glow, thankfully.

"Yeah, well." Soft, tentative smile. "I wanted to.

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

"Thank you," Devin said softly, relaxing a bit more when it hit that he really wouldn't be doing all this if he was disgusted and upset with him.

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

He wanted to cry. Why did he want to cry? And when the hell did he get this emotional?

Oh, right. When feelings started becoming an issue rather than an academic question.

He slid his fingers through Devin's hair, soft, running the backs of his fingers down his cheek. Every breath was tight. He couldn't think of something to say.

So, instead, he started singing along with the music.

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin closed his eyes to listen, to enjoy the touch and the sound and to let it wash the rest of it away.

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

Warren sighed a little as the music slid to instrumental for a moment. At least he was getting this right.

His fingers slid to Devin's hair, stroking through it, down the back of his neck as he picked up the thread of the song again. The candles were starting to fill the room with vanilla and cinnamon. Apple cinnamon.

He darted out quickly, grabbing the small bottle from the plastic bag and setting it down next to his wine glass before resuming the touches, the singing, interspersed with sips of wine.

[killingsoftly.livejournal.com]

Devin opened one eye, peering at him quizzically when he got back, before closing it again and sipping his wine.

"Mmm...this is good..."

[firebugwarren.livejournal.com]

"Good." He smiled slightly. "I thought I remembered right."

He dipped his fingers in the water; it was getting a little tepid, and probably icky. Reaching down, he set the old water to draining and new, warm water to flowing in.

"Dev..." He leaned back, watching him. Wasn't sure what to say.