Thank you very much to those who reviewed after reading the first chapter – twas (and is) lovely and appreciated. Feeling a bit bleugh so I finished this on a work day(!) and thought I'd post. I hope it works ok for you and as always great to hear what you think.
The taste of heat and sticky sleep filtering through his parted mouth, Syed breathed in the scent of them. This is how their naked bodies smelt when they were wrapped in sex laced sheets, that musty salt on his lips was his lover's satiated sweat. Syed stroked the thick tip of his tongue over the traces on his own mouth, suddenly needing to remember, to take it with him where he went.
"That was amazing," he murmured, purring his nose into the mattered soft hairs on the depth of Christian's chest.
Syed smiled, adoring the flash of pride in confident eyes and the grateful squeeze of hands cupped past the base of his spine.
"I told you I'd miss you."
"I don't have to go you know," he heard himself say, surprised at how natural the concession felt as it spilt from his lips. "You were right, there's no point in going all that way when I can do it from here soon enough. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone on against what you wanted."
Christian lowered his head, trying to read Syed's face as much as trace over the confusing words. "Since when is it just about what I want?"
"It's not but..."
"Anyway I do want you to, I mean I wish you didn't have to stay away and I'll miss you like crazy but I want you to do this. I know how much getting back to work means to you. I was only teasing before."
"I know."
"What about you?" Christian asked quietly, stroking a hand through the ruffled mess of his hair. "Do you still want to go?"
"Yeah. Maybe. Yes. I don't know it just feels a bit weird, starting something new and...I don't know, it's a change that's all."
He paused a second, giving himself a moment to tell his mind what he needed, a skill he had hoped to never need again.
"It's just some training, I'll just think of it as an extra uni course. It'll be fine."
"Course it will," Christian said softly, firmly. "You were sorted then and you'll be sorted now." He watched him in the silence. "Uni was smooth sailing, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah."
The street noises filtering through the kitchen, he hid himself under the shield of Christian's shoulder, squinting to the unwanted light piercing through the slats of the blind.
The yellow of the artificial bulb pierced out and Syed, bent and bemused, surveyed the glaring gaps on the fridge shelves.
"Have you seen my mince?"
"Haha no." Rhys laughed, loudly, in that not over the top but free way that Syed had always liked, and continued systematically lifting up the bases of a row of canned baked beans. "Am I supposed to be keeping track of it?"
Syed stood straightened, turning around to glance around the kitchen, small but clean, for a final flawed search.
"Those beans are off you know," he nodded over to the cupboards, watching consideration flash over his uneven features before merging into an indifferent shrug.
Rhys was different from the sort of friends Syed would have at home. White with the paleness of it and red cheeks that said activity and who are you to know what sort, yet the difference didn't stop at skin. He was care-free, just a usual boy, or a boy of twenty-one which Syed suspected in passing thoughts was at least less than a man. Nothing overly mattered to him, few things were a disaster or a plague of concern and that was something Syed admired, that was nice to be around.
Moving the scraps of abandoned coursework, he squashed himself glumly into the cleared sofa cushion.
"It was sausages last week, now this…"
"The beans?"
"The mince."
"Where was the last place you saw it?"
Syed raised an eyebrow. "I don't know I didn't really think about it. In my hand before I placed it in the fridge I guess."
"Mysterious," he concluded, collapsing large heavy legs onto the couch, creating a slight dip where Syed sat. "Shit. James and Paul came over before playing yesterday. Maybe it ended up fried or congealed in them? Sorry. Still, must feel good that your student loan's single handily fuelling Leeds to Rugby Varsity glory. No?"
"I'll get back to you on that."
"Have my pizza. It's only margarita, it's alright for you."
"There's no pizza in the fridge."
"I hid it behind the TV," he said matter of factly, leaping up on a jump to man handle the electronics. "That bloke Marie was with for about a month dumped her or something and she's eating anything that's not nailed down. She was gutted you weren't here last night, I think she wanted to cry on your shoulder."
"Me?" Syed flustered. "What's wrong with you?"
He turned his head back from the heave of the television and grinned.
"Lucy was here, I had my hands full."
His head shaking, Syed gave him the expected extolling smile. He smiled, because something told him he should want to. Three years away from home and the surroundings of carelessness and sex still seemed strange at times, a little bit less than comfortable. It was not being used to it, he supposed, just one of those consequences of being the Muslim who only pecked on the cheek or chaste kissed if a nice girl asked. It was probably just that, he'd start dating seriously soon, find the right fiancé, and it would seem as natural as it should. Rhys was so confident with it all, though without the pressures and the permanence he imagined confidence in this may come easy. Average looking, a sport build but nothing athletic and a face that was more kind than handsome, but the girls liked him. They'd often spend the night, the neighbouring thin walls hiding little, and sounds that should be private could rarely be avoided. It unsettled Syed sometimes, the hard echo of masculine noises filtering under his skin. He was embarrassed, that's all it was, and the way it felt was just discomfort.
"She's nice, you know," he told him. "One night you should take her on a date that doesn't involve going to watch your friends play rugby."
"An interesting idea, I'll consider it."
"You should do, unless you want to end up like James."
"Oh Christ, you should have heard him last night, a particular level of twat. 'Oh yeah she had the biggest tits ever made, like Jordan or something, but not plastic so like soft but still massive, real massive.' I swear he actually re-enacted the helicopter motion at one stage."
"I'm sorry I missed it."
"I woke up with his phone wedged into the side of my face, so he'll probably be round to get it in a minute. If you're lucky he might give you an exclusive second showing. You know how he likes to try and freak you out. Ah Pizza!" he grinned, holding up the battered box victoriously. "I'll put it in."
"I'll just eat some cereal, it's yours..."
"Shut up, it's fine. I must have downed half your mum's food parcel last week."
"She packs more like I'm at war than university…"
"Don't knock it. You know what the most Carol ever sent me? Tic tacs. And they were half eaten."
Catching his smiling eyes as he walked past him to the microwave, Syed laughed. It always felt odd to hear someone call their mum by her name, an unnatural distance that had to be pitied. Rhys had done it from first year, the result of divorce and fractured feelings and it didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. It saddened Syed though, that anyone could lose that, the nurturing bond that even at times of frustration he knew he would always cherish. He'd call his mum later, thank her for the food again.
"It's in."
"Thanks," Syed nodded from the sofa.
"I'm eating some too, those beans are off," he called, walking out the door. "I need a piss."
The sound of the door bouncing back against the wall, Syed kept his eyes on the television and his flicking of the channels.
"You've gone to the toilet. You don't have to come back to give me running commentary."
"Good to know…"
Startled at the unfamiliar voice, Syed looked up.
A tall guy, ruffled rugby shirt hanging on shaped muscles, a blend of dark short waves and piercing blue eyes stared out at him.
"I'm Andy. James asked me to pick up his phone."
There must have been a silence in which dazed confusion flashed past Syed's face, as he heard him add, "He's hung-over and I was passing…sorry I just walked in, the door was open so…"
"No, no it's fine," Syed murmured, getting himself up from the sofa and straightening his jeans. "It's my housemates fault for wanting us murdered in our beds…"
"Murdered on the sofa, but equally bad I guess," he smiled, kindly.
Syed laughed.
"Luckily no kleptomaniacs though. The phone's just here I think, I'll get it for you…"
Picking it up from the kitchen counter, he walked back to the living space, passing it to the receiving hand quickly with a chased brush of rough skin.
"There you go," he smiled, his fingers finding their way into a waiting pocket. "Oh I'm Syed by the way."
"Hi Syed."
He turned to walk out the door, Syed ready to go back to where he found him. "Thanks for the phone," he called, lifting his hand slightly as he passed. "See you around maybe."
"Yeah."
His legs pausing, the alarm of an expected ping shook them to move and he turned, stomach growling, to the microwave.
Turning into the nestle of warm chest, Syed paused.
"I can't believe you just used the phrase 'smooth sailing'."
Christian laughed.
"I can't believe you actually said me appearing to think something was a bad idea was enough to stop you doing it."
"Funny. I mean it though," he promised quietly. "This is good and it's right…making sure that we're ok is everything."
"Hey," Christian murmured, moving to show the expression of his eyes. "We're more than okay. Going to Leeds for a bit won't change that. I love you."
"I love you too."
Syed buried his head further into the chest, clinging to the words promised through physical closeness. He found himself beginning to kiss slowly, multiple kisses on tired skin, needing the contact of caress and taste and the rewarding sound of familiar moans.
"Mmm Sy…your train, you'll miss…you need to pack…"
His body moving to straddle, he clung to the feel of approval and hidden murmurs that said love and want.
"There's time."
"What are you do- " Christian hitched, his depleted desire forced to return as he felt dedicated lips work down.
"Whatever you want."