I hate the way you make me love you
Lukas stepped into the building of the convention, taking a deep breath, as he kept his head down, not wanting to accidentally engage in a conversation with anyone. He was normally composed around people, at least enough to seem like he wanted to talk to them, but this time, he just wanted to get this whole weekend over with as fast as possible.
He was given a room in the hotel of the convention so he wouldn't have to deal too much with traveling or crowds on the way to his panels that he was asked to join. Lukas would have been happy about this location if he hadn't realized how loud the crowds were even on the most `relaxed day of con. How could he read or write with this much noise so close to his room?
Lukas quickly checked in and made his way up to his room on the third floor, praying that he would go unnoticed. Thankfully he did, because of no one really being in his path towards his room. He closed the door, placed his luggage on a couch in the open living room of his hotel room, and went into the bedroom to lay down.
Because of lack of sleep from traveling, sleep came fast for him before he could set an alarm and he ended up waking up early the next morning. He looked out the window at the sun rising, and rolled his eyes, looking up at the ceiling again. His first panel wasn't until that night, so he had a full day to waste away.
Lukas got up and walked over to his bag to pull out his book of the weekend. It was a book he had never heard of before but it captured him from page one. He brought it back to the bed and got comfy, ready to read it for the next few hours of time he had before he had to start getting ready for the panel.
Who was part of the panel anyway?
Out of curiosity, he got up again and got his laptop out of his luggage and got onto the convention website to see just who he was going to share the panel with. This panel was just for this year's and last years top writers of the fantasy and adventure genre, so there was a long list of people that could possibly be sharing the stage with him.
He sighed, scrolling up and down the list, seeing that Arthur Kirkland was going to be there. He was quiet at least, but definitely put on an attitude that he was better than everyone else. Lukas always seemed that way to other people, but he certainly didn't feel like that. Lukas kept scanning the list for other authors on the panel that he knew, and his eyes fixated on a certain name that made his heart stop for a moment.
"Mathias Kohler…" he whispered to himself aloud. He wasn't sure if he said that name in disgust, surprise, or excitement, but he knew he was probably feeling all of those things at once at the moment. "Why he is here?" he asked himself just as a knock came to the door of his hotel room.
His attention was directed to the sound and he quickly exited out of the website, closing his laptop, and he headed towards the door. He looked through the peephole, and saw no one on the other side. Was it just a pranker?... "Anyone there?" Lukas called out, hoping that no one was there so he could start reading.
"Ya!" someone called out on the other side of the door. Lukas quickly looked through the peephole again to see if anyone was out there now, but he still couldn't see anyone. He sighed, and opened the door, knowing that no one too dangerous could get through hotel security without being noticed. It sounded like the voice of a grown man his age so he couldn't possibly picture this person as some crazy fan wanting an autograph.
When he opened the door, there was still no one outside his room. Did they run? Lukas stepped out and looked to the right side of the hallway next to his room. No one was running or hiding, so he decided to turn around to see if anything was going on in that direction. Just as he was about to do so though; he was stopped by someone grabbing him and wrapping their arms around his low waist.
Lukas' eyes widened, and he elbowed whoever this was in the stomach and kicked behind him, before the person let go. He ran inside and was about to slam the door and lock it twice if that was even possible, but the person said something that made him stop all of his panic.
"I would expect you to give me a nicer welcome, Lukie~" the man said, making Lukas immediately recognize who he was.
"Mathias?" he turned back around, half glaring at the man for scaring him to death, "How did you find me?"
"I followed you!" Mathias declared, smiling. Lukas shook his head, regretting even thinking about trying to have a conversation with the Dane. Mathias saw the look in Lukas' expression and immediately took back his words, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I just asked what your room number was, and the hotel trusted me, because I am in the same rank of popularity as you!"
Lukas looked down, making a note to himself to tell this hotel and every hotel in the future to keep his room number a secret from everyone. Mathias walked into the room, and hugged Lukas much to his discomfort, "I missed you so much! Did you miss me?" Mathias asked, smiling.
Lukas pushed himself away from the Dane and replied, "No. Now leave me alone, I'll see you at the panel…"
Mathias sighed and sat on the floral patterned couch, ignoring Lukas' wishes of him leaving. "You know you shouldn't lock yourself in this hotel room all day long…" Mathias said, now being serious with Lukas. Lukas opened the hotel room door back up, waiting for Mathias to get out. He replied, "I enjoy my time alone and you are ruining it."
"Ok, but you enjoyed the last convention with me, so why don't you want to do it again?" Mathias asked, tilting his head in confusion. To Lukas' horror, his whole face turned bright red, remembering what happened at the last con. He looked down, shaking his head violently to almost try to shake the memories out of his head.
Suddenly, two hands cupped his face, making him look up into Mathias' eyes. "I came here to get you out of this stuffy room and I am not leaving without you. You won't regret this, ok?"
"But we can't be seen together, you know that…" Lukas said, lifting his hand up to pull Mathias' hands away from his face. Mathias quickly removed his hands before he could be rejected though, and pulled out two masks. One was a spiderman mask and one was a deadpool mask. Lukas raised an eyebrow and looked back up at Mathias, "Don't tell me you are suggesting we wear these?..."
"I am not suggesting, I am demanded," Mathias said, sliding the spiderman mask onto Lukas' face against his struggles, "You need to get out and what a better way for us to not be seen together than to dress as spidey and deadpool!"
Before Lukas could take the mask off or protest any further, Mathias grabbed his hand and quickly dragged him out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them. He then started to lead him to where the convention was being held in the hotel.
"Mathias you cannot make me go!" Lukas yelled, trying to get his hand out of Mathias' firm grasp. He tried to pull away, but the Dane was stubborn and pulled him into the empty elevator. Lukas gave up, realizing that his only shot of escaping was probably yelling that he was being kidnapped on the lobby level.
"You know you can't use my name because people might suspect that it really is the Mathias Kohler and Lukas Bondevik, you know? So we have to come up with code names!" Mathias suggested, bouncing up and down as the elevator transported them to the next floor.
As they got off, Lukas replied sternly, "We won't need to have stupid code names, because I refuse to spend time with you during my free time before the panel."
"You are spending time with me right now, so how is that going for you?" Mathias played, putting on his mask quickly before they entered the room of the start of the convention.
Lukas sighed, rolling his eyes under the spiderman mask. "Can you let me go now?" he asked, as they kept walking. He knew he just missed his chance to call for help, but Mathias would have just played it off like they were role playing anyway. He was definitely witty even though annoying…
As they were about to enter the convention area where there was a pass needed, Lukas grinned under his mask, knowing that this was definitely his chance to get away and go back to his hotel room. "Damn, I left my pass in my hotel room… What a shame I can't go past this line~" he acted bummed out, but was overfilled with joy on the inside.
Mathias smirked and said, "Nonsense!" He then reached his hand into Lukas' pocket and pulled out his pass. How did he know that his pass was deep in his pocket? "How did you know my pass was there?" Lukas asked in surprise.
"I know where you keep everything," Mathias replied, tilting his head so Lukas knew he was probably giving a suggestive wink underneath his mask. Lukas blinked a little, annoyed by the crude humor and wondering how he was going to get out of all of this now. Mathias got them past security and into the main convention area. He put the pass back in Lukas' pocket and hugged him, "Please at least spend one hour with me, ok?"
"Why should I do that for you?" Lukas asked, glaring daggers at Mathias through his mask. Mathias did let him go and said, "Because I love you so much~ And if we can't spend time together outside of costumes, then we might as well make the most out of the little convention costume time we have, right?"
"But I don't want to spend any time with you…" Lukas said, looking at the convention entrance and exit that they just walked through. He wanted to make a run for it, but that required a lot of work and was almost impossible to get away from Mathias. Lukas sighed, looking down. One hour wasn't that bad, and he would still have more than enough time to finish his book and start a new one.
He nodded his head, making his final decision. "One hour. That's it," he said strictly. "Then I am going back to my room to read, and you can't annoy me for the rest of the weekend, ok?"
"Ah! Perfect!" Mathias' eyes lit up under his deadpool mask and he held Lukas' hand again but lighter this time, now ready to spend the next hour with him.
~(***)~
The next hour went by too quickly and not at all how Lukas was expecting it to be like. They spent most of their time in the dealer's room, looking at merchandise for tv shows and books they liked. They also found a lot of cosplayers that were being characters from their own books.
By the time the hour was up, Lukas was holding Mathias' hand back without even realizing it. Mathias noticed this, but in no way was he going to risk ruining the moment by saying anything about it. "I'm hungry. Are you in the mood for lunch?" Lukas asked to Mathias' luck, not noticing that their one hour was up.
Mathias nodded his head, "Definitely! Let's get some Subway!"
Lukas nodded his head, looking so nonchalant in his spiderman mask, but Mathias hoped there was at least a tiny smile under that mask. Both got their Subways and sat down a table in the eating area of the convention. Right when they were about to eat their food though, both realized at the same time that they had a problem on their hands.
"We can't take off our masks to eat, because then people will see us together…" Lukas said, sighing. He was so hungry, but being friendly to each other without their masks was going to make them screwed media wise. Mathias shrugged, "We can eat in the bathroom."
Lukas considered it for a few seconds, then instantly regretted even considering that idea, and said, "No. That is disgusting."
"Not really!" Mathias replied, getting up, "They are really the same kind of places if you think about it long enough~ Come on! You write about adventure, and this would be one hell of adventure right?"
"I write about fantasy and this is definitely nothing like the magical genre…" Lukas complained, still getting up, and starting to follow Mathias to the bathroom without thinking. No one was in the bathroom, so Mathias was able to call the big stall and locked it with both of them in there.
Lukas sat down in the corner of the restroom, thinking about his life choices for what felt like the one hundredth time that day. "I can't believe you made me do this…" Lukas mumbled, looking down and starting to unwrap his subway sandwich.
Mathias took off his mask and sat down smiling. He leaned over and took off Lukas' mask, wasting no time to kiss him on the lips right after. Lukas' face turned bright red from the surprise kiss and he pulled away, "What was that for?"
"I love you!" Mathias played, and started getting his food out, "It doesn't matter if I kiss you now with the luxurious privacy of a locked bathroom stall!"
Lukas looked down and started to eat his subway sandwich, trying not to think about what just happened. "Don't say that so easily…" he barely mumbled under his breath as he munched on his sandwich. Sure they had kissed before. Hell, they had done so much more than just kissing, but that was exactly what got him in this emotional situation in the first place.
After they finished lunch, Lukas looked down at his clock and saw that he had spent three hours with Mathias which meant that he only had three more hours to read before having to get ready for the panel. How could time get away from him when he didn't even want to hang out with the Dane in the first place? Lukas got up quickly, and threw all his trash in the trashcan of the big stall.
"I am going back to my room…" he stated and unlocked the door to the stall, starting to walk out.
Mathias got up quickly and gently grabbed Lukas' hand, keeping him from leaving the stall completely. "Do I get a kiss first?" Mathias smiled, starting to cup Lukas' face with one hand.
Lukas pulled away a little and shook his head, "Mathias we can't do this… We can't even be seen together in public, so what is the point? I am not like that…"
"But you had no problem with our kind of relationship before. Why now?" Mathias asked, tilting his head in confusion.
Lukas glared at him, mad that he was even bringing up the other times at all. Lukas turned up his nose, replying, "That was one time and we got caught. By our managers might I add! The media and the fans love how we destroy each other on stage. It wouldn't be good for us if they knew what was going on behind the scenes, and you know that!"
Mathias' eyes were wide, like he had just realized all the things that Lukas said at the moment they were put into speech form. At least Lukas thought that that was what his expression meant until he said, "Did you really just said that we only had sex one time? Don't you remember FantasyCon? Or DragonCon? What about ComicCon? I mean surely you can remember that meeting where we had to do it in the smallest bathroom stall in the world. Wait, but we also did it in an airplane and that was smaller.. but it was definitely more-!"
"Did you hear anything that I just said about the fans and the media and our managers?" Lukas cut him off, starting to get annoyed with the way Mathias was acting about this all. Mathias sighed and said, "Yes I did and I think you should stop worrying about them and start thinking for yourself. What do you want to do? What will make you happy?"
Lukas stared into his eyes, trying to figure out if Mathias was really speaking for Lukas or was just wanting to have another not-so-one-night-stand with him. Mathias sighed, knowing exactly what Lukas was thinking. "Look… I know that every time we see each other, we have to bring a rollercoaster of feelings and emotions to the table, some fake, some real, but I absolutely love our time together and I love you! And I am not looking for sex or even kisses if that bothers you. I just want to spend time with you…"
Lukas didn't know what to say to all that was just said. Was Mathias seriously saying all this truthfully? "I-I have to go…" Lukas stuttered, starting to turn around again. Before he could fully get away though, Matthias pulled him back and kissed him once more, almost as if to convince him to stay. The Dane was expecting Lukas to push away from him or hurt him in some way, but instead Lukas melted into the kiss, almost as if they were the only part of him that knew what he wanted.
Matthias smiled, leaning into the kiss more, cupping Lukas' face. "I love you so much," he started to whisper on the Norwegian's lips. He started to feel like maybe Lukas was going to finally say it back to him, but then the door opened and a girl walked in. Her eyes widened when she saw Mathias, and she looked at the sign on the other side of the door, "I'm so sorry I thought this was the girl's bathroom!"
Mathias smiled, and said, "That's fine!" and started to wave her off, but she only started to walk more into the bathroom. That was when Mathias realized that she was probably a fan.
Lukas tried to turn to see what was going on behind him, but Matthias kept his face in the opposite direction of the girl knowing that both Lukas and their managers would kill them if they were found out. Matthias quickly put the spider mask on Lukas and hugged him tightly.
Lukas realized what was going on and quickly left the bathroom without saying goodbye. Matthias watched as the fan shyly made her way to him, proclaiming how she recognized him and that she liked his work. Matthias always loved his fans, for they were book readers and always so intelligent and fun to talk to. It was just this time though that he wished he was unrecognizable and could have continued what he had going on there…
Walking through the maze of people, Lukas tried to hurry to his room as quick as possible before Mathias could catch up to him. What was he thinking back there? Of course Mathias was just saying those things to get into bed with him! Why did he always let his guard down around that stupid Dane? Lukas got into the elevator and took off his mask, feeling like he wasn't able to breathe in that thing anymore.
His face was still hot even without the mask on, and he couldn't see straight with tears in his eyes. He finally got to his hotel room and unlocked the door, getting in quickly and closing the door back. He threw the convention pass and hotel room keys onto the table, and he flopped onto the bed, wanting to forget everything that happened.
