6 - Annoying
And so, Mathias's training became routine. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday he woke up, met Lukas at exactly eleven AM, separated for a quick lunch at one, then reconvened and resumed work until four in the afternoon, Mathias leaving to go home and Lukas staying around for discussions and shoots.
A couple weeks after the start of Mathias's job, he came into work one morning to find Lukas sleeping on one of the benches in the lobby.
Sunlight filtered in through the glass windows; spring was dawning on Berlin and the skies seemed brighter and bluer. The warm light cast its glow upon Lukas's face, calm and peaceful in his sleep. Mathias almost didn't want to wake him up; he was content to watch that pretty face sleep all day. Besides, Lukas would kill him either way.
He poked at the cross-shaped pin holding the man's fringe back from his face. It was starting to fall out. The miniscule movement made Lukas's eyes snap open and he bolted upright, the pin flying from his hair and skittering across the room. "Mathias?" he asked.
"Mornin', sleepy." Mathias quipped with a grin.
Lukas bopped him on the nose, the deadpan expression never leaving his face. "Quiet, stupid." His hands flew up to comb through his hair and stopped short. "Where is my pin?" He leapt to his feet, casting his eyes about the room hastily. "Where is it?"
Mathias put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, it can't have gotten far."
"Yes, but I really need that pin!" Lukas couldn't fight the panic rising in his voice.
"Is the pin really that important?" asked Mathias, confused.
"None of your business, just help me find it!" Lukas darted away, searching the area on his hands and knees. Mathias shrugged and followed suit.
That pin is really important, Lukas thought, agitated. Emil made it for me when he was in sixth grade... They searched for several minutes, not finding anything. Lukas grew more and more distressed. I really need that pin!
"Lukas, is this it?" Mathias asked. He was on his knees behind one of the massive fake plants in the lobby, admiring something in his hand. Lukas crawled over and knelt next to him.
"Yes, it is. Give it to me." He said.
Mathias returned with a cheeky grin. "Close your eyes."
Lukas frowned, but did so anyway. He felt gentle combing against the side of his head and then heard a snap as the pin was pressed into his hair. "Can I open my eyes now?"
"Yup."
Lukas felt the side of his head. The pin was in place. He gave a small smile. "Thank you."
"Anytime," Mathias answered, slinging an arm around Lukas and pulling him close. Lukas visibly stiffened and shoved Mathias away, sending him crashing into the plant.
"You're pushing it," he warned.
XxX
Lukas and Mathias made their way to Studio B, their usual training place, in silence. Lukas glanced at his companion. Mathias was actually being silent for once, and that was cause for alarm.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Mathias returned.
"You stopped being annoying all of a sudden."
Lukas's bluntness stabbed at Mathias's heart. It was always like this, but he couldn't stop the twinge in his chest from appearing whenever Lukas so tersely dismissed his behavior. He raked a hand through his hair, looking away. "Guess I'm tired. It is morning, after all," he replied with a weak smile, "why do you ask?"
"Nothing. It's kind of nice." Said Lukas, his lips turning up in a smile so small Mathias might have imagined it.
They opened the door to Studio B, expecting it to be empty. Instead, they saw Tino being pushed up against the far wall by a taller man, hands raking across the stranger's broad back and through his choppy blond hair. Before Mathias could get a word in, Lukas shoved him hard into the hallway and closed the door behind them.
"The fuck was that about?" Mathias asked, getting up and dusting his clothes off.
"Tino and Berwald. They took our room," answered Lukas.
"Tino and who the fuck?"
"He's another model. They're together. Isn't it obvious?"
"Yeah, but... That's our room!" Mathias whined.
Lukas sighed. Mathias was back to being annoying. "You don't want to mess with either of them. Let them be. Come on, I don't think anybody is using the photography suite. We can work there." He grabbed Mathias's wrist and dragged him down the corridor.
The photography studio looked so different without crowds of people bustling about inside it. On top of that, it was completely dark. Lukas flipped on a switch, which lit up a series of pasty fluorescent lights embedded in the ceiling. He motioned for Mathias to stand on the stage.
"Remember what we learned," he said, "now pose."
Mathias stood with his legs apart, hooking his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans and lifting his shoulders in a shrug, finishing the ensemble with a cocky smile. He held the pose until Lukas's cry of, "switch!"
Quickly, he shifted stances. Lukas had stressed the importance of speed and precision, and he fell into a new pose without missing a beat. After a couple more seconds, Lukas cried out again. "Switch!"
Mathias switched poses and faced Lukas, giving the man a once-over. He seemed relaxed, undaunted by their sudden change of scenery, or having their room being used by Tino and his lover for something less-than-palatable. How anyone could be this cool was beyond him. There was something about Lukas's coolness that made his chest tighten, his stomach coil up, and his toes tense, but he couldn't quite place it. So, as Lukas directed him into pose after pose, his mind was occupied with trying to figure out just what the hell this feeling was.
"Mathias, snap out of it!" commanded Lukas, "A model has to be alert all the time. No slacking off!"
Mathias shrugged, grinned, and gave Lukas a quick salute. "Yessir!"
XxX
Lukas was almost impressed. It turned out Mathias had more skill than he thought. When under the spotlight, he completely changed: the annoying went off and the charm went on. God forbid he call that cocky smile "sexy". Lukas yelled out again for Mathias to change poses, rubbing his hands over his eyes. He could see his trainee's broad shoulders moving under his dress shirt, the angled hips covered by well-fitting jeans... Too bad such an amazing body had to be attached to such an annoying mouth.
The fluorescent lights were giving him a headache. Time to take a break, he thought, clapping his hands. "Okay, Mathias, you can get down."
The taller man bounded off the platform, landing in front of Lukas. "How did I do, huh?" he grinned expectantly.
"Not bad," said Lukas, "you're getting there."
Mathias let out a loud whoop and threw his arms around Lukas. "It's all thanks to you, buddy," he said, squeezing him tight.
Lukas pushed him away, cringing mentally at the word "buddy." He nodded. "No problem."
"Hey, at least let me treat you to lunch or something, you must be starved!" offered Mathias. "There's this great sidewalk café down the street we can walk to."
Lukas pondered over Mathias's offer. He was indeed hungry, and free food was always good, even though it meant spending time outside of work with Mathias. He decided the pros outweighed the cons and said, "Sounds good. Lead the way."
Mathias let out another loud whoop, grabbed Lukas by the hand, and zipped out of the photography studio, barely stopping to turn the lights off.
XxX
"I'll have the Eintopf, please."
Mathias and Lukas sat at a small metal table across from each other, outdoors in the early spring air. The waitress quickly took down Mathias's order then turned to Lukas.
"Weisse bohnensuppe, please." Lukas said. The waitress nodded, scribbled down Lukas's dish on her notepad, and left.
Mathias leaned back in his chair and sighed happily. Nothing beats lunch with a cool cutie like this, he thought gleefully. "So, how's work?" he asked.
"It's all right," came the terse reply.
Is that all? Mathias wondered, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. "And...?"
Lukas simply looked at him. "That's all."
"C'mon, I work with you, can I get to know a little about your life?" pleaded Mathias, reaching over and taking Lukas's hand.
Lukas yanked his hand away. "Absolutely not," he retorted, "That's all our relationship is. We work together. That's it."
Rather than being discouraged, Mathias gave a cheeky grin. "So are you saying we're in a relationship? How forward, Luke!"
"I... Ah... We're..." Lukas scrabbled for a reply and found none. "Go fuck yourself," he hissed. "I came with you because the prospect of free food outweighed having to talk to you, you annoying, obnoxious–"
"Angry again?" Mathias's grin refused to fade.
Lukas coughed and shrank back into his seat, his face sporting a bright shade of red. He was speechless. How could one person be annoying enough to get him so emotional at a public sidewalk café, of all places?
Before he had any more time to think about it, though, the food arrived and the delicious smell of the Weisse Bohnensuppe sent all the bad thoughts away. However, he refused to talk to or even look at Mathias as he ate, dismissing all of his colleague's attempts at starting a conversation with simple grunts and nods.
He's talking less than usual, Mathias observed dejectedly as he sipped his stew. Probably fucked up again. He thought back to that morning, where by some miracle Lukas had let him replace his hair clip. That miracle was probably gone, unless...
It wasn't a miracle at all, it was something I did, he realized. The sudden urge to slap himself silly rose in him. I'm an idiot. Gotta read him better. But I can't read him if he's so emotionless...
He bent down and silently sipped his soup.
XxX
This is beyond annoying.
Lukas glared at Mathias's hunched form. He had given up all attempts at communication and had settled for meekly sitting there, slowly eating. What the hell is up with this guy? he thought, irritated. He was nice enough this morning, finding my clip for me, but... He scowled. He's just so infuriating! One minute he's all right, next he's pissing me off, and then all of a sudden, he's quiet again! Make up your goddamn mind!
They finished their lunch and Mathias paid the bill, still not talking to Lukas. They walked back to the studio in silence as well. Occasionally Lukas would glance at his face. He looked deep in thought. But I'm not sure if he's capable of deep thought, Lukas joked to himself, Probably constipated, then.
He got worried when they reached the photography studio and Mathias still hadn't said a word.
"Okay, I'll ask." Lukas said. "Why are you so silent?"
"Just thinkin'," Mathias answered, looking down. "All I ever do is piss you off. I'm trying to see if I can do something right for once."
Well, I can't argue with that, he thought. "I see. Good luck," he replied crassly.
"At least I'm–" Mathias caught himself before he could finish his sentence.
"What?"
"Never mind." He looked away. If he was going to get Lukas to like him, he had to actually try and not be a dick for once. Lukas smiled knowingly, having caught on.
This is like the first day we worked together, Lukas realized idly. He was a dick, then he apologized. "Okay, then," he said, "back to work."
Mathias nodded and hopped back up on the stage. Just then, a twinge of pain pulsed through Lukas's temples. I'm probably overworking myself, he thought, sitting down. The thought of taking a break seemed great, but he had a goal to achieve. He shrugged the thought off and continued working, directing Mathias through a series of sitting poses and advising him on how he should carry his weight when he sat. This continued peacefully until four PM without any outbursts of Mathias's stupidity, and they walked together out of the building.
"I'll see you on Friday," said Lukas, turning to leave.
"Wait, Luke."
"What is it?"
Mathias scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Do ya think ya wanna..." He took a deep breath, "have lunch again sometime?"
"That depends on whether you insist on being an asshole or not," returned Lukas.
"What if I don't?"
Lukas touched his left arm. "We'll see where that goes," he said quietly, turning away and leaving.
XxX
That night, Mathias had his first wet dream about Lukas.
In his dream, Lukas grabbed his left arm, pulling him into a demanding kiss, hot and passionate. Mathias had all control wrested from him (after all, he was in a dream) as this surreal dream-Lukas nipped at his neck and sucked at his dick, and Mathias woke up in the middle of the night with sweat dripping down his back and an uncomfortable wetness in his pajama pants.
After showering and changing into a clean pair of underwear, Mathias couldn't find the heart to fall asleep again. He wandered into the kitchen for a midnight bowl of cereal, eating it on the couch.
He vaguely recalled his admiration for Lukas's coolness, the same feeling which made his toes curl and his stomach do backflips.
It was shameful, but Mathias didn't think it was just admiration anymore.
I feel like he's going to kill me if I even think this, but, he mused as he crunched his cereal, Lukas is one sexy motherfucker.
AN: Eintopf is a type of seafood stew and Weisse bohnensuppe is a white bean soup.
Thank you for all the reviews and stuff, I swear, they make my day. 3
I really like this AU, I should write some more stories for it.