Title: SHIFT Chapter 11: THURSDAY MORNING 3 Author: calciumyeah
Summary: Slash. LukeSeth, RyanSeth. Ch 11-and they've finally come together....
A/N: Because I'm procrastinating in studying for finals...
Ryan wasn't sure how many lines he wanted to cross. In a way, this was enough. The kiss. Even something so small could change so many things—but what after? Did he want it to be a whole thing, like a gradual step thing? That seemed too girly, too dramatic, too puppy love. Unless you were talking AA steps—and he definitely wanted to avoid anything resembling that.
Part of him—a big part of him—just wanted to get it all over, do everything right then so there wouldn't continually be the whole issue of 'how far will we go this time?'
But Seth pulled back.
He was out of breath. And smiling. Ryan just hoped he didn't want to talk about it. He could easily get through this without talking about it. They'd been arguing only seconds earlier and Ryan was worried that as soon as their lips parted the same words would pour out. But, Seth wasn't much for angsting things up; he went straight for the quip.
"Front seat in a parking lot. Classy lady."
"What?" Ryan wondered which of them Seth was referring to as a lady.
"Hmm? No. Nothing." Seth caught himself before mentioning that's what he'd said to Marissa regarding her initial hook up with Luke. He didn't want Ryan thinking of either of them right now.
They looked at each other for a few seconds in amusement bordering on awkwardness. They were both trying to adjust from the anger a few moments earlier to whatever they were supposed to be feeling now.
"You, know, I dressed extra special for this date."
"It's a date now?"
"Well, you know about the cow and the dairy products. And I'm just saying that my cream is in no way free—and wow that sounds really bad." Seth nodded to emphasize just how much he regretted his choice of words. Ryan watched him and enjoyed the characteristically Seth moment.
Seth noticed the voyeuristic pause and looked back at Ryan inquisitively. Ryan shook the moment off, almost wanting to give Seth the 'you're-so-unique-and-wonderful' spiel, but feeling more comfortable with just shutting up and turning away. Seth chose to let it slide.
"So, are we still going to emerge ourselves in the Imax experience or would you prefer the ever-enjoyable Thursday morning showing of sickly animals in 3D?" Seth pointed non-too-subtly at an overly tanned Julie Cooper clone carrying a constantly scratching chow into the veterinary center.
Ryan shrugged.
"When in doubt, choose sharks," Seth started the car and Ryan realized they were actually heading for the movie and not back home as he'd originally assumed. He was trying to ignore the nagging disappointment.
"So, anyway, I dressed extra special for this date." Wait, what? Ryan had to back track in his brain to figure out how in the hell this related to their current conversation. "And you, I mean you're sexy. The wife beater and all—very sexy."
"This is going somewhere weird."
"Me? Weird? Never. No. I'm just saying that I'm thinking this day is special. So, maybe, you would like to, I don't know—take off the wife beater. Just a thought. That way I'm dressed different, you're dressed different."
"That's very subtle." Ryan's eyebrows were working overtime today, both raised in amusement.
"Thank you. I'm quite good at it. So, yeah. Wife beater. Off. Half naked Ryan is always good."
"Completely naked Ryan's even better." Ryan's flirting was of a more expert brand. The kind that made teenage boys accidentally jerk the steering wheel slightly and regret every moment not spent entangled with one Ryan Atwood. "You really want to go to this movie?"
"The Imax? Yeah. Well, okay, I just want a theater. Right now, I'm thinking I'll just go to any theater. I just really have the urge to be in a theater with you right now."
"Public place fetish?"
"No fetish. Just the perfect molest your friend fantasy ever. The old 'intern's overtime' in the not-quite-empty theater. To the sounds of sharks and c-list score composers. Now that's special."
Ryan smirked, but he noted that something seemed off. With the biting and the sharks, and the whole issue they were avoiding. Seth's whole concept of sex. Ryan didn't know how much of it was Seth and how much was adaptation to the Luke situation. Hmm.
Seth apparently really did have an urge because they pulled into the first theater they saw. The place wasn't significant to Ryan as he didn't really know the area, but one look around at the businessmen driving by, the shopping bag laden pedestrians crowding the block and the obscure titles visible on the marquee from a distance screamed pretentious, high-class, come spot a celebrity area. So, it was pretty obvious why this wouldn't be a first choice location.
They pulled into a recently vacated parking space anyway.
Ryan was overly conscious. He felt like he did when he'd first walked around Newport. Like he had a big "I don't belong here' sign hanging around his neck. He still kind of felt like that, but at this moment it was worse. At least before he'd been only half conscious that he and Seth looked like a couple. Now, it felt like everyone was staring at them, knowing. He shouldn't care...right?
He got his opportunity to think about something else for a moment when some 20 year old ad exec (or whatever the hell he was that had him sitting in the driver's seat of a parked Porsche) seemed to forget whoever was on the other end of his cell-phone and blatantly ogle Seth who was squirming around, attempting to pull some money out of the left front pocket of his jeans. The man was too engrossed to be aware of Ryan's glare.
Feeling what he'd always called his protective nature, but what was more likely jealous rage, Ryan closed the 5-foot distance he had self-consciously put between Seth and himself. Seth seemed to be oblivious of the switch from distant to hovering and simply handed Ryan his ticket and went to order some Tazo tea. Ryan chose to abstain, as he wasn't entirely sure what the hell "tazo" was.
As soon as they entered the theater, Ryan eyed the back rows assuming that's where Seth wanted to go and while he was frustrated to find a touristy looking man and woman in his ideal spot, Seth apparently had other plans as he'd already bee lined straight for the middle rows.
Once they'd seated themselves in the exact center of the room, Ryan turned to Seth knowing an explanation was already on its way out.
"The back, my friend. The back is for wussies. We are the courageous. The Peewee Hermans, if you will. The ones who make inappropriate sex in a movie theater mean something. We are now thoroughly surrounded; and thus we are brave." Ryan regretted ever watching an episode of Buffy as he was unpleasantly reminded of Andrew during Seth's sarcastic mini-speech. The sip of tea through the straw clinched it and sexy moments aside; Ryan had an idea of why Seth was a bit of an outcast.
Then Seth put the drink down, licked his lips and looked at Ryan seriously. Or lustfully. It didn't matter because damn that look was worth listening to Andrew incarnate for a few hours.
"You didn't get a drink so I'm guessing you don't plan on doing anything thirst-inspiring." And Ryan didn't respond because, well, Seth was right—Ryan hadn't even thought about reciprocating. "That's cool."
And with that, Seth dropped to the floor and his hands went for Ryan's zipper.
"Seth, wait, the movie didn't even start yet."
"No fear, Ryan, remember. That's why we're not in the pool house or sitting in the back corner or calling each other 'Harry' and 'Peter'. We're not worried about this. We're being open."
"Get up."
"Shit." Seth's hands stopped, "Ryan. No, don't start this. We need to let this happen."
"This isn't therapy, Seth. You can't just suck me off in a movie theater and make your problems go away."
"I have no problems Ryan. Okay, you—you're the one with all the angst and the drama. I'm just trying to give my best friend a blowjob." The lights started to dim and Seth looked around. "Ryan, listen to me. Look at me. We are so close to this working."
The theater became dark around them as Seth waited hopefully for a response.
"I want to do this," Ryan put his hand on Seth's already moving hands as he spoke, "But don't act like you're not scared of it. It makes me think you're not realizing the consequences. Or you're lying."
Seth waited for Ryan to continue, but when he just tilted his head back and went about getting comfortable, Seth decided he didn't want to continue the conversation (or think about the clawing voice screaming that he was already enough of an outcast without giving people another reason to spurn him). He wanted to be fine with things, with himself and if he had to block out all conscious thought and go with desire then so be it. He didn't bother with a lot of hand warm-up; he went straight into a cat-like nuzzling and licking motion that Ryan tried not to find weird.
Meanwhile, Ryan was also pushing back random images flowing into his mind. They were what his mind conjured up when he'd found out about that whole 'situation'. That situation he didn't want to think about in detail. He didn't want those images of Seth in pain mixing with his current state of arousal. Seth didn't need someone getting off on that again.
After a minute, clearing their minds became easy as they fell into a mutual effort at a silent-yet-brazen sexual display. Seth was giving the softest performance Ryan had ever experienced, like he was playing an instrument, very graceful. There were swirls, Ryan could feel swirls and there might have been a pattern to them. Or not. There were tingling trails in winding paths crossing over each other until it just felt like he'd been covered in some narcotic, some sexual drug. Vampire kisses and sex kitten blow jobs. Hmm.
Seth went more traditional as soon as the movie's sound picked up. Ryan hadn't thought to ask what they were watching. He popped his eyes open wondering when he'd closed them and saw subtitles on the screen. A French detective film apparently. Ryan closed his eyes again. Yep, it was back to basics. The good old up and down, slather me in spit and...whoa—that was an attempted deep throat. Could Seth do that? No time to think—there's—that's nice—
Okay, so Ryan's thoughts kind of went out the door and Seth was acting like a cannibal with an ice pop or some such analogy. It was all very money shot inducing. And that money shot definitely came. Or Ryan did, whatever.
They'd been doing well, gone unnoticed while only half trying to hide, stayed quiet...until Seth took Ryan by surprise. He'd been going strong with a fluid up and down motion for a while there and then out of nowhere threw in a super hard tongue swirl that was ill timed considering Ryan wasn't expecting it and he ended up expressing both his surprise and the swirl-induced orgasm quite verbally.
"You cum like you're fighting. I swear you sound like you're throwing somebody." Seth's eyes glittered, but Ryan was panicking as he glanced around and realized he a few people were eyeing him suspiciously. He gave them a weak smile and pushed Seth's rising body back to the floor, glaring at him. Seth smiled. "Oh, come on, I so wasn't getting up."
"Shh." Ryan tried to keep his eyes on the screen and not draw any attention to the floor in front of him.
Seth poked Ryan, "You might want to put this away," he looked at his gooey hand, "and clean up. You know. In whichever order."
Ryan hurriedly tucked himself in and tried to wait a decent amount of time before getting up to leave the theater. As he rose, Seth whispered at him, "You don't want to watch the movie?"
A/N Okay, it's short and unedited, but the next chapter's planned so it will come once finals are done (i.e. next weekend).