Jim had a long soak in the tub, then made himself a decadent amount of tea and snuggled up on the sofa with a stack of books and the telly running in the background.

But he soon had to give up on the reading. Every little detail seemed to remind him of something about Sebastian or the last couple of days, and then he'd realise that he was just staring into thin air, smirking or grinning stupidly. Or the memory would be so vivid he'd be tempted to indulge. But he stopped himself every time. He could easily have wanked to the thought of any of the stuff Sebastian had done to him, but he'd rather save his energy for tonight. For whatever new games they would be playing.

In the late afternoon he nodded off and was woken up, groggy and with a stiff neck, by the doorbell. It took a moment for him to remember, then he jumped to his feet, nearly spilling cold tea all over the carpet as he stumbled in his blankets. Regaining his balance and smoothing his hair, he ran to the door, flung it open and threw himself into Sebastian's arms, giggling happily as he kissed him.

But Sebastian didn't really return the kiss and gently pushed him off. "Jim," he said, looking so earnest he almost seemed ill. "Let's go inside. We need to talk."

Jim felt like someone had emptied a bucket of ice water over his head. He took a step back, staring up at Sebastian. "Why? What's wrong?"

"In," Sebastian said, nodding towards the door.

Swallowing hard but not looking away, Jim stepped back inside his flat, holding the door open for Sebastian. "What did I do?" he asked, finding it difficult to speak around the lump that had settled in his throat.

Sebastian shook his head as he closed the door and walked over to the sofa. "Please sit with me."

Jim pulled the blanket around him as he sat down in the corner of the sofa so he could face Sebastian. "I don't understand…" he began.

"I've seen Relevé," Sebastian said.

That one word sent such a violent torrent of emotions through Jim that it felt like actual physical pain. He trembled and closed his eyes, fighting to hold back the tears. Only when he was completely numb could he look at Sebastian again.

"Yes?" he said, his voice sounding so wrong.

"I was going to go home, but then I bumped into Mike again." Even though Sebastian wasn't speaking loudly, his voice sounded like steel. "And it turned out that he was in Sally's office to pick up the cover image. So I followed him, and the guys let me watch it." He took a deep breath, apparently calming himself. "It was him, wasn't it? You never told me. You let me ramble on and on about Mind the Gap and you just never thought about shutting me up."

"What do you mean?" Jim did not want to have this conversation. Anything but this. He could have handled it if this talk was about breaking up or never doing another film again, but this...? He did not want to talk about this.

"It was him." Sebastian's jaw clenched for a moment before he continued. "That Sherwood guy. You were in love with him and he broke your heart."

The cold was back and Jim shivered as he nodded. Sebastian was so angry. He was going to leave him and it was Jim's own fault. He shouldn't have gotten involved with another actor. And he should have been honest with him. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I hope he is, too." Sebastian sighed. "Look, I know your past relationships are none of my business. But... He was your co-star. From what you've told me, you worked together all the time. And considering that they're still finishing up Relevé, it can't have been long ago. I know it still hurts you. And now you're with me. Another colleague. You must be reminded of him sometimes and yet... You never talk about it. You don't trust me. You'd let me hurt you over and over and I wouldn't know."

"You've never hurt me!" Jim cried, suddenly feeling angry too. "I won't let you. I won't be used. I..." He felt himself crumble. "I learned my lesson..."

Sebastian shook his head and held out his arms. "Come here."

Jim didn't want a hug. Jim didn't need a hug. Jim... found himself buried in Sebastian's strong arms, sniffling into his chest. "I hate him."

Sebastian stroked his back and kissed his hair. "I know. He's a fucking prick. And I'll go after him if you want. Show him just a bit of the pain he caused you."

"No," Jim croaked. "I don't want you to go near him. You're too good..." He sobbed once and then took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. "He's not worth your time. He's just an idiot from my past and I don't even want to think about him anymore."

"But you will," Sebastian said, still petting him. "Think about him, I mean. And then the memory might be improved by a bit of revenge..."

Jim had to admit that the thought did hold a lot of appeal. But he also knew that if Sebastian touched Sherlock in any way, several people would not hesitate to put the police on him and Jim did not want that. Keeping Sebastian around was more important than making Sherlock pay. At least...

He giggled through the tears. "There are other ways of getting revenge. Better ones..."

"Oh?" Sebastian prompted.

"He's never really cared about pleasure or pain," Jim said. "That's why he's so good on camera. And so cold when... when they're off... But his career is everything to him. The brand he's turning himself into. Take that away from him and you'll destroy him. Remove Sherwood and Sherlock will crumble."

"But Angelo is really fond of him, right? So how will we pull that off?"

"I guess..." Jim did not like the thought, but it made sense. "Angelo will have to be out of the picture. Out of pictures..." He snickered at his own pun. "I mean... He's talked about retiring for quite a while. If he did, then Sherlock would be cut adrift. He may make good films, but he's also got quite a reputation. Nobody is going to want to work to him."

"Yeah. I guess that'll work. But it's really a long-term plan, so if you change your mind... I wouldn't mind splitting open his face. That'd keep him from working too, for a while."

Jim thought of Sherlock's face. Of the full lips, the sculpted cheekbones and those impossible eyes. How beautiful he was when he smiled and told Jim he'd never felt like this about anyone before. And how equally beautiful he had been when he'd turned cold and refused to even acknowledge him. "No... I don't want that.," he muttered. "Not his face. He'll need it -" the thought shaped itself even while he was speaking- "when he comes to work for us!"

Sebastian let out a chuckle. "Really? You got plans to take over Angelo's business then?"

"No!" Jim huffed. "I want to start my own label. A much better one. One that's not afraid of trying new ways and new talents."

"Well... I better start rehearsing if I want a job at such a quality studio." Sebastian pushed him a little back and smiled.

"There's no rush," Jim said, smirking. "We can't just do this tomorrow. We will need to plan. To find the money. And to make Angelo want to quit his job."

"Sounds like a lot of scheming." Sebastian leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss. "But seriously, Jim... What I said about not letting me hurt you. It's still important. Not because I think you can't handle me or anything like that. But I just can't read your mind, right? So if there's anything, anything at all, I just really hope you'll trust me enough to get it out. Because I really hope to still be by your side on the day you start that new label, and if we want to make that work you'll have to talk to me. Okay?"

Sebastian caught Jim quite off guard with that declaration. He had been about to start listing the things that they needed to make happen first, but his mind went quite blank and he just stared at Sebastian. "I..." he muttered, slightly miffed that the lump in his throat seemed to have returned. "I want that too. And I promise I'll tell you if something is wrong. As long as you promise that too."

Sebastian nodded. "I will. For an actor I'm not that good at hiding my temper, so... Guess there won't be a problem there." He grinned a little sheepishly.

"I guess there won't be." Jim leaned his head on Sebastian's shoulder, hiding his grin against his neck.

…

He woke to the wonderfully warm feeling of large hands moving slowly over his skin, teasing and caressing. He lay for a while, doing nothing but enjoying it, but as Sebastian's hands kept moving towards his growing erection and then sliding away again, he whined, squirming a little. "Don't tease me..." he muttered, yawning. "You know I won't say no to wake-up sex."

Sebastian chuckled behind him, pushing himself up a little to kiss the side of Jim's neck. "So impatient, so early in the morning..."

"Hey, I'm not the one groping someone in their sleep." Jim yawned again and pressed himself against Sebastian's body.

"Not groping. Petting." Sebastian started nibbling on Jim's earlobe and finally wrapped one of his hands around Jim's cock.

"Whatever you call it," Jim moaned, "it feels good."

Sebastian started stroking slowly, scraping his teeth over Jim's ear.

Jim shifted, wanting to get a hand on Sebastian too. Taking the hint, Sebastian let Jim's ear go, giving him just enough space to reach back. After some fumbling, Jim wrapped his fingers around Sebastian's cock, matching the rhythm of his strokes.

Moaning as he thrust into Jim's hand, Sebastian placed kisses over the back of Jim's neck and then nibbled down to his shoulder, making Jim hum and squirm.

But soon he stilled his hand. "I want to see you…" He rolled onto his back. "Come here."

Jim quickly realised what he meant and reached for a condom. He knelt next to Sebastian and rolled it on him, covering it in lube. He could take Sebastian more easily now, as long as he was slick enough. He bent down to kiss Sebastian and then straddled him. It was nice being in control of the penetration, taking his time as he sank down slowly, closing his eyes.

Sebastian hummed in pleasure. "So eager... And beautiful..." He stroked Jim's back and legs, encouraging him to take him deeper.

Jim rolled his hips slowly, resting his hands on Sebastian's chest. "You're beautiful too," he purred.

"Are you sure?" Sebastian sounded amused. "I think you should open your eyes and check..."

"I don't have to." Jim giggled. "I know." But he still obeyed and opened his eyes, looking down at Sebastian and smiling. "It feels so good," he moaned, moving a little faster.

"Hmm," Sebastian agreed, pushing himself up a little. "A kiss would make it even better..."

Jim could only agree and bent down to press his lips to Sebastian's.

Sebastian licked into Jim's mouth and started to thrust up, still following the slow rhythm Jim set. But when the thrusts began to grow more forceful, he turned his face away, baring his neck for Jim. "Bite me."

Jim hesitated. But it felt so good and he didn't want Sebastian to stop, so he sank his teeth gently into the soft skin, moaning at the sensation.

"Harder," Sebastian urged.

Jim licked the spot once before biting again.

Sebastian grunted loudly. "Oh, that's better. Perfect..." He pushed Jim a little back to catch his lips again, thrusting up hard and fast.

Jim whined, trying to get his hand in so he could stroke himself.

"Up," Sebastian gasped, pushing lightly against Jim's shoulder. He batted Jim's hand away and replaced it with his own, planting his feet in the mattress and biting his lip until he came with a loud moan, still stroking Jim's cock.

Jim followed right behind, crying out his release before collapsing on Sebastian's chest, panting. "I love... Morning sex..." he gasped.

"Never would have guessed," Sebastian said, the sarcasm lost in his panting. He brushed a hand over the length of Jim's back. "That was fabulous..."

Jim just giggled. He was too happy to respond to anything right now.

"I've had an idea," Sebastian said after a while, when his hand had moved from petting Jim's back to playing with his hair.

"Breakfast?" Jim guessed.

Sebastian chuckled. "Not yet. That would involve moving... But I was thinking about Angelo."

"Gross!" Jim giggled more. "While I was riding you? I'm not enough for you?"

Sebastian started giggling too. "Ew... No! Ugh. Cut me some slack, you just shagged my brains out. How am I supposed to make things sound right without them?"

"I don't know. How do you usually manage?" Jim teased.

"Fair point... I suppose my brain hasn't been working properly since the day I met you. It's all your fault." Sebastian pressed a kiss to Jim's head, his chest still shaking with laughter.

"Don't overdo it." Jim dug his fingers into Sebastian's sides. "Didn't you say something about an idea?"

"Oh yeah." Sebastian caught his hand and entwined their fingers to stop him from tickling. "If we want to start our own business, we should make a bit of a name for ourselves first, right? Before Angelo quits. So we need to make him accept as many film ideas as we can."

"Good luck with that." Jim huffed, his happy mood melting away. "You heard him. In his world there's only one name that counts. And I'm never doing his films again."

"But he did approve Bonding. He wasn't ready for the plot in Office Romance, but we still have a field we can work in. What I have in mind is sweet enough to be up Angelo's street, and yet kinky enough to be interesting. And it wouldn't make a full-length movie and wouldn't have any plot at all, so..."

"Oh?" Jim was sceptical, but Sebastian was right. They weren't ready to start their own label yet. They needed money, experience and connections. And the only way to get them was to work. A lot.

"Remember what I said about a tail and ears?"

"Remember my response?" Jim pushed himself up to glare down at him.

Sebastian grinned. "Vividly. But it would be beautiful. I mean... You'd make the most gorgeous pet. And it wouldn't be about humiliation. Just about taking good care of each other."

"It sounds ridiculous," Jim said. "How can anyone find that sexy?"

"Uhm," Sebastian said. "Hello. I can tell you that there's a market. You're lying on it. Well, part of it, it's not just me."

"So what you're saying is that you'd like to see me in that getup?" Jim shook his head. "I'm a good actor, but don't ask me to crawl around on the floor like a..." He wrinkled his nose. "What animal did you have in mind, anyway?"

"A puppy," Sebastian said. "Puppy play is extremely popular at the club with doms and subs alike. It's really not such a crazy idea. I suppose we could keep the actual crawling to a minimum..."

"A puppy? You want me to drool and wag my bum?" Jim rolled his eyes.

Sebastian sighed and scratched with his thumb behind Jim's ear. "Just consider trying it. You don't need to do anything uncomfortable or disgusting. Relax and be a good boy and you'll be a very spoiled little pet..."

Jim tried to ignore the nice tingling sensation these words caused. He sighed. "Show me what you have in mind. I'll consider it."

"Okay." Sebastian kissed him gently. "Maybe we should meet at my place. I've got all the toys there."

"Fine," Jim said. There was no harm in humouring Sebastian in this. He'd probably abandon the idea once he saw Jim's total lack of enthusiasm.