Authors Note: Just a prompt I got on Tumblr. (Not beta'd)
Blaine always appreciated a man in a nice suit. He could pretend that it was the appreciation of fine fabrics and expensive designer, it was really about the fine way the fabric formed tightly over certain bodies. Okay, it was shallow and baseless but it was mainly in his subconscious. But sometimes his subconscious jumped forward into his mind. In this particular situation a certain boy stepped out into the light of the April Rhoades Civic Pavilion stage and his subconscious urges pushed forward into his front thoughts. As Michael Chang held his silver tie between his fingers and slipped it off from around his neck and tossed it to the side. Blaine was at complete attention, sitting forward in the seat with his hands crossed over his knees.
He felt the sound buzz away as he watched the black vest, white shirt, and black slacks move with an extremely beautiful and flexible body. He could focus only on the movement, black glinting under the stage lights, and the sudden dryness of his mouth as Mike briefly sat down on a platform and flipped his leg straight into the air and over, his leg twisting to one side showing off his expert flexibility. And then after a slight wiggle of his arms, Mike licked his fingers and gestured for more lights to shine on his previously undiscovered and gloriously handsome facial features.
The dance was goofy and adorable but Blaine could only focus on the occasional strip of skin appearing when he lifted his arms and the white shirt underneath the tight black vest un-tucked from his pants. When he would later think back on that dance he realized that he did actually focus on other parts of the dance, like the way Mike's eyes lit up when he teasingly danced toward a mop dressed in a red dress, or how he pursed his lips together in a pouty smile as he turned himself and the mop toward the audience, or when the stage lights came back on after his performance how he ran off the stage with a sheepishly proud grin and embraced his friend, Sam, who looked pretty surprised by the hug attack.
Blaine glanced over at Kurt, who was wistfully watching the two boys leave through the stage exit. After making a comment about how much Kurt missed his old glee club Kurt rolled his eyes but smiled as he commented about going to see his old school friends. Blaine side-eyed as Kurt followed them out of the exit, and when the door was closed Blaine quickly walked up to the stage, he waited until no one was looking before picking up the silk tie that had landed on the edge of the stage. Of course Blaine realized how creepy it was to stow the clothing away in his pocket but he managed to keep for a few days without feeling too guilty about it. When he did feel guilty about it, a few weeks later, he promptly threw it away. A few hours later he picked it back out of the garbage and put it away so he could eventually return to Mike…somehow, in some discreet way that didn't portray the truth about his actions.
That outfit was first on his list of Michael's outfits that made him want to pull his own hair out.
The second was a very tight ensemble that was quite the opposite of a suit.
But it was still a very good outfit.
Very good.
Blaine was waiting outside the auditorium for Kurt-who, for some strange reason, thought Michael was going to audition for Tony and simply had to spy on the competition-when the boy himself came running around the corner in a pair of skinny jeans and an equally tight black t-shirt that he was pulling over his torso. Blaine managed to see enough flesh to have the image burned into his memory. He tried to make it go away as soon as Michael flashed him a brief and polite smile before opening the stage door and bolting in. For a brief moment Blaine stood completely still. He shook his head vigorously before staring at the door. He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes at himself and opened the door, giving into his inner curiosity and entering the back stage.
He stood behind the curtains as Mike introduced his audition to the producers of the show. He was mildly happy on Kurt's side to see that Mike decided to audition for Riff and not Tony, but those thoughts quickly disappeared as Mike started singing and sliding on his knees. Blaine watched with fixed attention as Mike managed to push himself and his hips up with just the strength of his legs. He felt the back of his knees weaken a little and found himself clutching with a white-knuckled grip on the curtain in case his knees really gave out.
Michael ended with another slide before standing up and facing his audience. When Blaine later thought about the performance he remembered the proud and stern stance that Michael stood in as he faced his audience, a proud little smirk on his lips. Blaine couldn't help but grin into the curtain he was gripping onto, his bottom lip slipping underneath a giddy bite as his heart pounded heavily in his chest. He stood there with his face buried in the curtain fabric.
There was a slight cough and Blaine jerked away, still not being able to hide his smile, which was until he saw Mike looking back at him with a curious and adorable smile. Blaine's eyes quickly scanned over Michael in his tight black shirt. He observed that Mike was breathing heavy, his chest was heaving. They exchanged awkward welcomes and Blaine made an unbelievable excuse about the reason for being back there and then quickly followed it with an admittance of curiosity. Mike merely grinned and gave Blaine a friendly pat on the back, that proud smile was still expressed as he turned away and walked back into the hallway, leaving Blaine to stand completely still for a few seconds before he broke out into a foolish grin.
()
After that Blaine tended to add a lot more outfits into his mental list of favorites. He loved the green T-shirt and black vest combination that Michael sometimes wore, the red checkered vest seen over a plethora of black and white dress shirts, and all of Michael's dance clothes that he wore for their dance lessons or every time the two of them practiced their Tony and Riff scenes. Blaine even began to consciously list all of the different things that were his favorite about Michael. He listed his favorite Michael scents, his favorite Michael smiles, his favorite Michael laughs, and his favorite Michael words. Mike had a certain way of speaking, the way his mouth moved was original and most of the time Blaine had to make sure he didn't stare at the way Michael's mouth formed words too much.
They interacted so smoothly and perfectly together that Blaine felt like everything they said to each other felt so natural and uninhibited, besides the fact that Blaine was slowly losing his mind over the fact that he liked Michael too much for his own good. He knew it was a bad idea to lust (can I call it lust still if I think about doing other things with him besides having sex? Like holding hands or cuddling or receiving a small peck on the cheek after a particular long day of practice?) over a guy when he already had a boyfriend and said guy already had a girlfriend.
So after weeks and weeks of spending time with Michael during practice Blaine had trained himself to think of other things whenever he found himself thinking of Mike in a more than friendly. He would think about really bad movies or songs. It happened so much that he soon had Rebecca Black's Friday memorized and was actually considering watching the National Treasure series again.
There were also a few of Michael's outfits that Blaine disliked. He disliked the light and dark blue long-sleeve shirt that had little buttons on the end of sleeves so they could be pinched up at Mike's elbows, and the silver blue vest that snuggly embraced his shoulders over said long-sleeved shirt, and the tight dark blue jeans, and that stupid orange beanie that did not make Michael look absolutely adorable. He hated this particular outfit because Mike was wearing it when the two of them were talking while Finn was making some kind of announcement that neither of them cared about until Sam Evans walked into the room with a wide big-mouthed grin. At first Blaine was excited to see Sam again, until he saw Michael practically tripping over his own chair to go and give the former a hug. Blaine felt like he was going to be physically sick, realizing that Mike's old friend had returned and that he would probably be pushed to the side lines and he just couldn't stand the idea of that happening. Even though he got a friendly nudge from Mike while the other people crowded around Sam and there was a kind glint that kind of reassured Blaine of his standing with Mike he still disliked that outfit.
But he didn't dislike that outfit as much as he hated Michael's checkered blue and red jacket with the course zipper and the feel of the logo on the left side of the chest. He disliked that he remembered the feeling of that patterned fabric underneath his shaking fingers, and how Michael's heartbeat was easy to feel under the blending colors. Remembering the jacket made him remember the softness of Mike's lips against his, the grip he had on the zipper that he later realized had left an imprint in his hand, and the way Mike's breath hitched when they pulled away. He remembered the pain and confusion in Michael's eyes and the way they both muttered apologies and how Mike said that he was going to try and make the long distance work with Tina even though it didn't work for Blaine and Kurt after Kurt left. He remembered that he was kissed back and how Mike had managed to stumble out of his life for three years after that.
The next favorite Michael outfit revealed itself after said three years. It was an after party for Wicked, the Broadway production that Rachel Berry had managed to land herself in as the lead role, and Blaine had found himself invited to tag along as one of her party along with Kurt and Tina, and Tina's fiancé, who was not Michael-not that Blaine was relieved about that or anything. He was surprised to see a black suit with a bright green tie and a navy blue dress shirt fitted perfectly on a man he never thought he would see again. Michael looked astoundingly good in his designer outfit, something that Kurt couldn't help but point out as he was the one that designed it. Blaine was ready to hate the entire suit as it would be attached to the memory of the time all those old feelings rushed back stronger than ever. But Mike had a warm smile and a drink reserved for him alone as the two of them caught up in a secluded booth at the party. Blaine was surprised that he didn't see Mike before, considering the fact that Rachel was Blaine's friend and was also working with Mike who was the assistant choreographer for the production. But he couldn't blame Rachel for too long, knowing that she was very focused on being a successful Elphaba and not on the people that she was working with.
So Blaine got the wonderful surprise of being able to examine the fabric of Michael's outfit, occasionally running a hand over the sleeve of Mike's suit jacket in friendly gestures. Blaine focused on how, without his suit coat, the dress shirt stuck to his strong arms whenever he moved one up to ask for more drinks to be served to the two of them. Watching the fabric cling to Mike's body made Blaine want to rip it apart, or maybe it was the warmth of the alcohol and the way it made him a little bit restless, longing to kiss the flesh underneath the cool silks or even the smile that seemed to be stuck on Michael's lips.
A simple white, loose T-shirt and a pair of gym shorts were easily Blaine's second favorite mixture of clothing that he had seen on Michael. Weeks after their reunion they decided to spend a day together that began with them as friends running together in the park, progressed to hot dogs from a vendor to Blaine's apartment for a movie, and ended early with them as lovers with those simple articles of clothing ending up strewn out on the floor of Blaine's apartment along with Blaine's forgettable clothing.
He really had to chance to put Michael's body to work that night, and after watching movement after movement of swiveling hips and strong legs it was quiet the prize to be moving so smoothly and roughly against him. Whimpers and gasps escalating to loud groans that jumped along with the shaking of Blaine's headboard against his wall and then moved steadily down to heavy panting and happy whispers. And then repetitions of those very same sounds over and over again until they were too tired to try and put their clothing back on.
Blaine discovered another favorite of Michael's outfits that night. He loved it when Michael wore absolutely nothing.
He thought about all of these outfits with a happy buzzing in his stomach as he stood at the beginning of the new life he was going to have with Michael.
Blaine's favorite outfit was the one he was staring at that very moment as Michael took his hands into his. A trim black dress shirt under a beautiful white tux with burgundy cummerbund and bow tie, the very look of this outfit caused Blaine's eyes to sting out of emotion; he could feel tears starting to form along with a shy little smile as Michael looked back with an expression that resembled what Blaine was feeling. His eyes were wide and glistening while his smile was simple with a single dimple showing on his left cheek. Blaine felt his own smile grow when Michael's hand reached up to caress his cheek and he mouthed the words "I love you." Blaine felt heat grow in his cheeks as he returned the inaudible sentiment.
After exchanges their own vows and bringing their lips together, the two of them pulled apart and Blaine ran his hand down to the collar of his new husband's shirt, the feel of it was something he was going to always remember.
Even when they were old together and all of Mike's clothing fell out of style, Blaine would still treasure every memory attached to the different fabrics and designs.