i'm sorry this chapter took so, so long to get out! i told you it would update sporadically lol. up until chapter 6 i knew exactly what i wanted to write, so it wasn't too hard to get it all typed up. but this chapter...phew. it was tough. i wrote about a paragraph a week for a while, then just stopped writing altogether for a while until inspiration struck last night and i wrote the rest in one sitting. i'm not too happy with a few paragraphs here and there but i was so desperate to get it out i don't care.
shoutout to my friend hikari this time for proofreading!
Seto had always been an early riser for as long as he could remember. It didn't matter how late he'd fallen asleep or how many hours of sleep he actually got, he'd still be up and awake and preparing a pot of coffee by six AM. So when he awoke the next day it was still dark outside, not even a hint of moonlight peeking through the curtains, and Seto wasn't surprised to see the clock read half-past 5 in the morning. Even so, the room was awash with a muted purple glow from a string of Christmas lights that hung up around the room. Dim enough to sleep with, but bright enough to light up the dark corners of the room.
Seto let his head fall back to the pillow with a stifled groan. He hurt. His shoulders were tight, his arms and wrists were sore, his back full of kinks and god damn, did his ass sting. He hadn't expected the aftermath of a scene to ache this much, and he wished he'd had had enough energy to take a hot bath before letting himself doze off. Nevertheless, he had no regrets. Sure, he might have hesitated here and there, and he might have been uncertain if he would be able to submit the way he wanted to, but once he had started it had come naturally to him. It felt even better than he imagined, letting someone else be in control for once, and he couldn't imagine having sex any other way. That sense of helplessness at the hands of another…that was all he'd wanted to feel for years, and now thanks to Malik, that desire was satiated.
…At least for the time being.
He lay there silently for several minutes, thinking over the scene again and again, as if trying to relive every last second. It hadn't lasted as long as he thought it would, nor did it contain as much as he hoped it would, but it had still been amazing. Fuck, the way Malik had spoken to him alone could turn him on; Malik didn't need to do much more than call him a good boy and bite his neck and he was ready to go.
Even the memories themselves were enough to get him riled up, and when he realized he was starting to get hard again he cursed under his breath. How embarrassing…
Attempting to stretch out in a way that wasn't painful or too stimulating, Seto became very aware of the other presence in the bed. He glanced over his shoulder, not surprised to see Malik cuddled up against his back, an arm slung haphazardly over Seto's waist. Seto's brow rose, curious as to when and how he'd allowed himself to be the little spoon.
Turning over slowly to as not to disturb his partner, Seto faced Malik, their noses almost touching as Seto settled back down into bed. He studied the other intently, the way his eyelashes fluttered and his eyelids twitched as he dreamed, the little curl of a smile on his lips despite being asleep. He wore a peaceful expression, chest rising and falling evenly with his breath, his hair in a manageable bun to keep it from tangling as he slept. In the purple glow of the Christmas lights he looked otherworldly and dare Seto think even godly, and he felt the need to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He didn't, but he felt like doing it.
He knew it had happened, but he was still catching up to the fact that he and Malik had finally met face to face, and even had sex after their first date. It planted a warm, fuzzy feeling he couldn't identify somewhere between his stomach and cock. Like a mixture of joy and lust. Odd, but not unwelcome.
"Fuck you, Flowey!"
The shout came unexpectedly, and Seto looked up, startled. What –who?- in the world was that? Glancing at Malik to see if the shout had woken him up, he sighed when the man remained dead to the world. He dressed himself in his clothes from last night despite them being wrinkled from being on the floor, almost wishing he'd considered bringing an overnight bag with spare clothing.
After unlocking the door with the key he'd seen Malik use to lock it he left the room, finding the stairs easily enough and descending down them. He could still hear noises -grunting and growling and more curses, but nothing substantial. Nothing that told him who it was. When he entered the living room and saw another man parked on the sofa, hunched over the laptop perched on the coffee table he wouldn't really say he was surprised to see him. What else would have made those noises? Although he was surprised to see that Malik had forgotten to tell him he apparently had a roommate.
The man hadn't noticed him yet, far too caught up in whatever game he was currently trying to beat to feel the other's presence behind him. Glancing over his shoulder gave Seto no indication of what the game was; all he saw was a creature that looked like someone had badly Photoshopped a human, machine, and plant together. Every second there was some new attack the man had to avoid and, despite his best efforts to avoid them, he died.
"Oh my God!" The man shrieked, throwing up his hands. If this was the norm, Seto was shocked Malik managed to get any sleep at all. The man continued cursing as he was just thrust right back into the game, but Seto didn't stick around to see if he beat the boss this time. He just wandered into the kitchen, suppressing a yawn as he glanced around. Certain Malik wouldn't care if he brewed himself some coffee, he set about making a pot, a bit put off that these two didn't seem to keep any beans on stock. All he found was cheap grounds.
After a few minutes of watching the coffee brew, he heard shuffling behind him followed by a soft gasp and he glanced over his shoulder. The nameless gamer man seemed to be taking a break from his infuriating boss fight and had come in for a snack. Seto supposed his unexpected company had startled him.
"Hello," he greeted formally, not sure how to act in this situation. He'd never stayed the night after a one night stand before, and he'd never had to meet the family and/or roommates after the fact either.
"…Hi," the gamer said at length, looking wary. "I suppose you're Mr. K?"
"Mr. K?"
"You were the one Malik had a date with yesterday, right?"
"Yes."
"Malik calls you Mr. K. To protect your 'not-so-innocence', as he puts it," the gamer said with a smirk, moving over to the fridge. He dug around inside, pulling out some chocolate milk. "I guess he never thought we'd meet face to face," he continued rather casually despite the situation.
"Malik never said he had a roommate," Seto said abruptly. It wasn't like that bothered him, just that Malik hadn't bothered to tell him.
"Malik never told me he was sexting with Seto Kaiba," came the gamer's half-hearted response as he climbed onto the counter to reach a higher shelf, which appeared to house the two's cereal selection. It was Seto's turn to eye him warily.
"Who are you?"
"Ryou Bakura. Charmed, I'm sure."
Seto hummed noncommittally, not bothering to respond as he searched the cupboards for a mug and poured himself some of the finished coffee. Taking a cautious sip of the hot drink, he grimaced at the taste and watched as Ryou poured Fruit Loops into a bowl and topped it off with chocolate milk. By Ryou's laugh, he'd seen Seto's look of disgust.
"It's not as bad as it looks, I promise." Ryou sat down and started eating, but Seto didn't join him at the table, content to stand where he was by the coffee machine, leaning his hip on the counter. They were silent for a long time, Ryou munching on his cereal and Seto sipping his coffee, and Seto would have preferred it stay that way. He had nothing to say to this man, and he didn't want to answer the potentially awkward questions Ryou might have about his and Malik's relationship. Ryou, thankfully, seemed to feel the same way.
Seto was almost done with his coffee when he saw Malik shuffling into the kitchen, eyes half closed and hair disheveled despite the bun he'd tucked it into. He wore only an oversized t-shirt so long Seto wondered if he'd forgotten to put anything on under his shirt; that is, until he saw the flash of blue underwear when Malik raised his hand to retrieve a mug from the cupboard. He didn't say a word to either man as he poured the coffee, adding only a scoop of sugar before downing it in a few quick gulps. Ryou seemed used to this routine. Seto just felt awkward at the lack of acknowledgment.
It took another half cup before Malik even seemed to realize there were other people in the room. He offered Seto a smile since he was closer. "Mornin' guys."
Ryou responded with a hum, his mouth full. Seto smirked back.
"Good morning to you, too."
Malik smiled a little as he refilled his mug, adding creamer this time. He leaned against the counter beside Seto, their arms brushing whenever either of them moved. Malik seemed to be neutral to this, though Seto's nerve endings were alight.
"I see you've met my roommate," Malik continued, speaking into the mug as he took yet another drink. His tone was neutral, and Seto wondered if Malik realized he'd forgotten to tell him about Ryou.
"Yes. He has quite a colorful vocabulary."
Malik raised a questioning eyebrow. Ryou blushed as he stared into his cereal. "I could hear him yelling at his game all the way up in your room," Seto explained, and Ryou looked like he was begging his Fruit Loops to swallow him up.
"You stayed up all night playing games again?" Malik asked, sounding incredulous and even a bit like a disappointed parent. The fact that Ryou scoffed like an overly dramatic teenager made Seto chuckle, but he hid the sound in his coffee cup.
"I work the night shift. 4AM is like, my 6PM. Besides, I am so close to beating this game, I think I'm at the final boss right now."
Malik just shook his head and looked at Seto. "Can you believe him?"
"Not my place to comment," came Seto's reply.
Ryou and Malik continued arguing back and forth about games and sleep schedules and work, but Seto noticed it didn't get too heated and neither of them seemed to be actually annoyed with one another. He had to admit he was interested in knowing more about Malik's relationship with Ryou, if only because he was just now finding out about Ryou. He wondered if this was just how they fought, or if they were holding back because he was here.
Eventually Malik got Ryou to swear he would go right to bed after he beat this "Flowey" boss on his game, and once he was finished with his cereal he returned to the living room to finish up the fight. Once Seto could hear the distance sounds of the game being resumed, he looked at Malik, only to find the other smiling at him.
"What?" he asked, hoping he didn't have coffee on his lip or an embarrassing cowlick. Malik just smiled more and gingerly ran the pad of his thumb over a bruise on Seto's throat. Seto had to remind himself to breathe.
"Nothing, just remembering last night."
"Oh…"
Malik continued rubbing his fingers over the marks on Seto's throat, setting down his coffee so he could use both hands. His expression twisted a little as Seto flinched when he touched one of the darker bite marks. Seto was about to ask what was wrong when he asked, "How was last night?"
"Amazing," Seto said with no hesitation, confident in his answer. Malik studied him for a second, looking more serious than he had just a few moments ago.
"Was there anything you didn't like?"
Seto considered the question for a moment, seeming to understand why Malik was asking. He probably wanted to fine tune some future plans, or make sure he didn't do something Seto didn't like again. "Mm… No. Not really. Calling you Master threw me off, but only because I wasn't used to it. I've never called anyone Master before. But other than that, no."
"Are you sure, or are you just saying that to stroke my ego?"
Seto rolled his eyes, setting his own coffee down so he could place his hands on Malik's hips. "Mm, there are a lot of things of yours I want to stroke, but your ego is very low on that list."
Chuckling at this, Malik let his arms drape over Seto's shoulders. "Mm, alright. I'll take your word for it. And don't worry, I have a lot of plans that involve stroking."
Seto grinned at this, pulling Malik closer and dropping his head to brush their lips together. Malik sighed against his lips, craning his neck to press their lips more firmly together. It was slow and chaste, but only because Seto's phone began buzzing. He pulled back, surprised it hadn't fallen out of his pocket in his rush to take his clothes off last night, and he pulled it out and glanced at the screen. A message from Mokuba lit up the lock screen.
"Hm, seems my brother doesn't trust me to return on my own and is threatening to call the police if I don't come home before he goes to class." Seto chuckled softly; it was an empty threat, and his little brother's protectiveness was almost cute.
"Tell him you've been kidnapped by a fetishist who'll be using your body for all sorts of sexually immoral things," Malik purred back, but cried out when Seto actually began typing a reply. "No, don't! I was just joking!"
"I know," he hummed, and Malik calmed. "I'm just letting him know I'll be home soon and that the foul mouthed mechanic who likes rock and roll did not, in fact, try to kill me."
Malik laughed at this, stealing another quick kiss before pulling away. "You can use my shower if you want, and I think I might have some clean jeans that'll fit you. Unfortunately, I think all of my concealer is too dark to cover those hickies."
Seto raised an eyebrow, not looking up from his phone. "You think?"
Malik held up his hands in self-defense, leaving Seto to his texting as he went to retrieve some spare clothes. While he and Seto were similar heights, he didn't have much that would fit the other man. In the end he did find some of his older brother's pants from the last time he'd visited and had forgotten in the wash, and a blue sweater he never wore because the inside was itchy.
When he went to find Seto again, he found that the man had taken up his offer to use the shower, and he snuck in to place the spare clothes –along with a bag with the rest of his dirty clothes in and a surprise 'gift' hidden under his blazer- on the edge of the sink.
Half an hour later Seto was dry and dressed in the borrowed clothes, looking just as put off in the itchy sweater as Malik was. He was amused by this as he led Seto to the door, knowing he had to get going before his brother got much antsier. Making sure he had the bag, he walked Seto to his car.
"I had a lot of fun," he said as Seto pulled out his keys. The man smiled back.
"I did as well. I wouldn't mind doing this again soon."
"Next Saturday?"
"I'll pencil you in."
They chuckled and kissed again, but before Seto could say goodbye Malik put a finger to his lips. "I have homework for you."
"Oh? You never mentioned teacher roleplay."
"Hush, or I'll beat your ass with a ruler." He grinned when Seto grinned, tapping a finger against the bag Seto held. "I took the liberty of putting your instructions in there, as well as the…tools you'll need to complete your homework. I expect you to give me a very detailed report when we see each other again."
Seto hummed, eyes lidded as he imagined all the naughty things Malik might have him do. "Yes, Master."
Malik grinned, patted his butt, and watched him pull out of the driveway, feeling sadder than he should have as he watched Seto drive away.