The art room was unusually quiet. Nothing could be heard except the soft scratching of pencil lead on paper and the nearly-silent rubbing of a white plastic eraser when it was needed. The bust before the person seated at the desk in front of it sat motionless as always, the shadows that danced across its white marble face growing steadily as time passed. Outside, the raucous din of boys fooling around on the basketball court was the only thing that kept the room from being completely silent. Haley had stopped and was staring at the blank face of the bust, motivation for drawing the same head at the same angles slowly fading away. She knew every inch of that curly-haired head that was supposed to be a representation of Zeus. She knew it too well. With a sigh and a soft slap on the forehead, she put her drawing utensils away in her backpack before picking up her sketchbook, pushing the chair away from the desk, and exiting the room. She was the only student left in the building - she knew that, because this was the time she left at every day and there was never another student in the building, except the basketball players outside coming in to relieve themselves, cool off, seek medical attention, or just because they could, then dart back outside only to come back in twenty minutes later for some other reason.
Haley knew some of the boys out there - her boyfriend Dunamis never actually played, as he was more brain than muscle and didn't have the stamina to partake in sports; he was content enough to sit in the shade of the old oak tree near the court and watch. Aguma towered over everyone else and was the first chosen when teams were formed. Ginka, Masamune, Nile, and King were all middle-schoolers who joined in just because they could. Chris and Kyoya were there because they had nothing else to do. Johannes was there in the beginning but at some point this little black cat would pass by and he would chase after it, occasionally succeeding in bringing it back and sitting under the old oak with Dunamis and with the cat in his lap - since he wasn't there, she figured he had yet to catch the cat. Bao was usually there, but this time he wasn't. She didn't think it was anything abnormal, though - he was probably inside taking a wizz or he had a karate lesson to teach and he couldn't stay.
Dunamis tossed her a wave when she passed by, and she waved back and sat down with him for a moment to watch Aguma tease the younger kids by holding the ball above their heads where they couldn't reach it even if they jumped.
"Have you seen Bao?" she asked, situating herself so she could readjust her jeans without actually standing.
"He ran off that way." A tan index finger pointed down the street in the direction of her apartment building.
"He's stealing food from me again."
"I though you said you didn't mind as long as he brought the plate back."
"True, but it annoys me to no end."
They sat there a while longer until the sky started turning orange, then she stood and started home, and Dunamis followed. The first - and last - person she expected to be there was Bao. She opened the door and there he was, shirtless, drenched in the scent of adrenaline, and holding a plate of recently-heated leftover fried chicken in one hand with a drumstick dangling by the knuckle from his mouth. Her fridge was still open. He mumbled a quick "hullo, Haley" from around the chicken leg knuckle before darting from the kitchen and past them out the door.
"Get your own damn food, Bao!" she barked after him before she slung her bag into a nearby kitchen chair, closed the refridgerator door, and plunked onto the couch. Dunamis watched her for a moment, pale blue eyes tracing her movements, before he went and sat down with her. She snuggled closer to him, and his arm looped around her shoulders and pulled her closer. They'd been together nearly two years now, and they both knew they could trust each other with anything. There was comfort in knowing that she'd be able to ask him what she'd wanted to ask him for weeks now and he would give an honest answer.
"Hey Dunamis?"
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"You just did."
She slapped his arm playfully and continued.
"Why me?"
"Why you what?"
"Why, out of all the girls up there at the high school, did you decide you wanted me?"
He sat back for a moment, pondering her question, rolling his bottom lip between his teeth like he did when he was thinking hard about something. Even after they'd known each other for so long, she could never tell what he was thinking.
"Hard to say," he said finally, standing up and heading into the bathroom to relieve himself before coming back a few minutes later and situating himself on the couch once more. Dunamis looked down at her again - and again she couldn't tell what was running through his mind. All she hoped was that it wasn't because he pitied her - pity dates were the worst, and she'd gone through them before. It hurt knowing that everyone felt sorry for you, but none of them really actually liked you.
"Whatever the reason, it wasn't because I pitied you." She released the breath she didn't know she'd been holding and snuggled next to him again, resting her head on his shoulder this time.
"Let's see...I think it was because of that time we first met - do you remember that?"
She nodded, then stretched and yawned. His tan fingers played with a soft loose curl of her tawny-brown hair. "You saved me from being sexually harassed on school grounds, right?"
He nodded and kissed the top of her head. "After that, you could say a sort of instinct took over; I felt the need to protect you." That was a good enough answer for her, and she yawned again before snuggling her head into the warm cushion of muscle between his neck and shoulder.
"Tired?" She nodded sleepily and he pulled her into his lap. "I'll be here when you wake up," he promised, kissing her forehead. And he was still there when she woke up the next morning, granted, they were at his house on his couch and he was out cold and snoring softly. She smirked and kissed him gently, and it took a moment before he woke up but he hugged her close and kissed her back before pulling her on top of him so their chests pressed together and her lower body was resting comfortably inbetween his thighs. They had done this while making out before and nothing had ever happened, but for some reason this time something did.
She reached down to slide a hand beneath his shirt so she could remove it - they had done this, too - and, purely by accident, her palm met not the hem of his pants but the crotch. They both stopped, him because he could feel the heat of her hand through his jeans and boxers, and her just because she was touching him down there, and both of them because they both knew that there was a little something down there that was getting excited, and it made for an awkward moment. Faces turned red and muttered apologies were quickly exchanged before they broke apart and sat down with a little space between them, neither one daring to look at the other for fear of making the moment even more awkward. Haley was the first to break the silence.
"I think I'll get going now. Knowing Bao, he and Aguma had sex in my apartment last night and at the moment he's raiding my fridge." She didn't point it out, but at the mention of sex Dunamis's already-red face turned darker. "I'll...see you later."
"Yeah..."
Haley left without another word, reprimanding herself for touching him down there in the first place, and at the same time for not having taken it further. Did she fantasize about sex with him? Hell yes. Did she want to do it with him? Of course. Had he ever brought it up? No, and she wanted him to be the one to ask if she wanted it; she didn't want to sound pushy. She had asked him once if there were a point when he'd ever thought about sex, and he'd said that he was waiting for the right time. And now, because of what had happened, she was hot and irritated and the humidity of the warm day wasn't making it any better and she needed a date with her fingers and vibrator.
She twisted the doorknob to her apartment, found it unlocked, and walked in to find Bao sitting on her couch with a sloppily-made sandwich comprised of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a fried boneless porkchop: Bao's version of a BLT. He wasn't wearing a shirt and his pants were rumpled and his belt gone and his fly undone, indicating that her prediction had been true and that he had honestly thought she wouldn't be home until later, judging by his current state of dress - or undress, more like.
"Hey Bao. My sheets better be clean or on their way to it or I know two asses that are gonna get kicked, and I'm in the mood to kick ass right now."
"They're in the dryer. And by the way, we found your vibrator in your underwear drawer..."
She groaned and flopped down on the couch beside her childhood friend, who stared at her for a moment before grinning and singing, "Someone's sexually frustrated..."
Haley shoved him and he chuckled before finishing off what remained of his sandwich. "So what happened? Tell me everything!"
Boy, did she tell him everything!
"And then there was this massive-ass awkward silence and it was frustrating, sitting there and having to pretend like he didn't have a massive hard-on and auuugggh!" She tugged at her hair by the roots in anger.
"So, like...?" He held his fingers an arbitrary length apart and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. She took his wrists and spread them apart a bit more, and he stared at the open space. "Wow."
"And I just don't know what to do anymore, because I want to take things further, but I want him to be the one who asks because I don't want to sound like the dominant being in our relationship and...are you even listening?!"
Bao was still staring at the distance between his fingers. "Wooooooow. How the hell is it gonna fit? No offense or nothing, but you're a shrimp, so even if it is only about six and half inches long that sucker's gonna hurt."
"Snap out of it, Bao!" Haley smacked his head in a somewhat playful manner. She had known since their diaper days that Bao was gay and the rest of the world knew it too, whether they wanted to or not. She didn't care as long as she didn't come home to dirty sheets.
At that moment Aguma trotted downstairs from her bedroom with the rest of Bao's discarded clothing items and noticed her sitting on the couch. "Um...your sheets are in the dryer..."
"I know, Aguma. And you can keep the damned vibrator; I'll just get a new one."
A thick eyebrow raised quizzically, but he didn't say anything.
Three days passed since the awkward incident on Dunamis's couch, and three days since Haley had seen him last. At the moment, she was just hoping that the incident hadn't put a roadblock in their relationship. She had taken to waking in the middle of the night and pulling out the newly-bought vibrator and getting rid of a little sexual tension. Everything seemed more sensitive now, and at random periods she found herself unwinding two or even three times in a row with little to no effort at all. She finally decided that she was through with waiting and went to his house to discuss what had happened and how they were going to deal with it.
He opened the door before she even had the chance to knock and swept her off her feet in a warm hug, with her head buried in his chest and and his buried in her shoulder and his arms encircled around her back holding her as close to him as she could physically get. Then they both started talking all at once, with him wanting to apologize for how he had acted and her wanting to apologize for the same reason and they both ended up laughing before he led her up to his bedroom. She herself had never been in his room until now, but she was greatly impressed by the detail. The walls and ceiling were painted the rich color of the night sky - not black, but such a dark purple that it looked black - and all the constellations and planets and moons were mapped out and everything and apparently the stars and planets and moons had been done with a special sort of paint that caused them to glow in the dark in their respective colors, not just the pale, sickly green most people used.
Dunamis picked her up and threw them both onto the bed, and they were met with such little resistance that the mattress bounced with them. They laughed at this and once they settled down they kissed before he gently pinned her beneath him on the mattress, hands enveloping her wrists and waist nestled comfortably between her thighs. Apparently he had decided he was ready.
Soft kisses trailed down her throat as he released her wrists to slide his hands beneath her shirt. His hands felt like fire on her skin, and her own hands had started fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. Her shirt was removed and his fully unbuttoned and he pressed his lips to her collarbone before continuing further down. He propped her torso up for a moment to reach around her back and unfasten her bra before pulling it off with his teeth and shrugging his shirt off. He let her fall flat on the bed again and his lips moved back to her neck before he reached down and touched her left breast in a surprisingly gentle manner. She squeaked when he gave it a soft squeeze and he smirked against her skin. He located her pulse point and sucked on it gently while his hands fondled and carressed her breasts. It seemed as though her having submitted to him so easily had kindled a sort of passionate flame that neither one of them knew he had, because before long they were both exposed completely to the elements and his head was between her legs and he was licking, sucking, and gently nibbling at the tender flesh of her nether regions and inner thighs. Her fingers were ensnared in his fluffy lavender hair and her moans of pleasure were difficult to stifle as his tongue explored the sweet expanse of skin and flesh previously unknown to him.
He removed his head from between her thighs and kissed her softly - she could taste herself on his lips - before he settled himself against her and slowly pushed in. She cried out and clung to him - it hurt, just as Bao had said it would, but not as much as she had expected, probably because Dunamis was distracting her by whispering sweet nothings in her ear until she became used to the feeling. She probably wouldn't have needed it, but it was nice to know that he'd considered the fact that the initial breaking would hurt and had prepared for it. He grunted and started pumping fluidly in and out of her body, soft and slow at first to prevent hurting her further, but he couldn't keep it up for long without steadily increasing his speed. She was panting and moaning and her thin pale fingers were clawing at his back and the friction and heat and pleasure were overwhelming. And his stamina was frightning; he managed to hold out for about twenty minutes before finally unwinding and collapsing in a sweaty, sticky heap. Hers was not so great, seeing as how she was completely and utterly exhausted when they finally stopped. They stayed like that on the bed for a good long while, with her snuggled up to him and him still inside of her and with the sheets thrown over them both. It was all one happy, sweaty, adrenaline-scented mess.
She nuzzled him gently and he smiled and nuzzled her back and neither one of them noticed that Bao and Aguma had entered the house and that Bao was barely three feet away from the door.
"Whoops! Sorry! Your apartment door was locked so we figured you went and got freaky in there so we just decided to come here." He paused for a moment, letting the awkward moment sink in. "I'll leave you two alone now." He closed the door and hollered something to Aguma about how the bed was occupied.
Dunamis winced, not so much in guilt of having been caught in the aftermath of the act but at the screech that emerged from Haley.
"Baaaoooo!"