12 - Fire and Ice
Mathias awoke the next morning hot and groggy. He wasn't in his own room, that was for sure, and he wasn't alone.
The body next to him gave a sleepy snuffle, snuggling deeper into Mathias's chest, arms wrapping around his waist to hold him in place. "Where are you going..." Lukas's languid voice washed over him, soothing and cool, but nothing would be able to wash the layer of stank from him like a hot shower.
"Gonna take a shower," Mathias answered, brushing errant strands of blond hair from Lukas's face, "I stink."
"You do," yawned Lukas.
"Serves me right after that nasty night, eh?" Mathias prodded gently, "I'll reek of flowers and soap if you let me go."
Lukas shrugged and relinquished his hold on Mathias, flipping back over to continue sleeping. "Wake me up when you're done."
"I love you."
"You big sap. I love you, too. Now go shower." He pulled the covers over his head and Mathias left him to his sleep.
Mathias took his shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and stepped out of the bathroom only to bump into Emil, who stood in the hallway, dressed for school, strapping black rubber sandals onto his feet. "Good morning," Mathias greeted.
"You too," returned Emil, "nice skirt."
"Nice sandals," Mathias retorted, "where are you going?"
"School, of course," Emil replied flatly. "It's Tuesday. Can you make Lukas some coffee? He's completely useless until he's had any and I'm not dragging his lifeless corpse around." Emil waved over his shoulder and was off to school before Mathias could get another word in. Mathias shrugged the kid's bluntness off and turned back into Lukas's bedroom to get some pants.
That was when he realized he didn't have extra underwear. Lukas's hips were noticeably smaller than his; simply taking one look at Lukas's discarded briefs on the floor versus his own spacious boxers (he liked his freedom) was cause for alarm. Lukas was still sleeping, sprawled out to take up most of the queen-sized bed, sheets tangled around his waist. "Luke, I don't have underwear," he whispered.
"Wear your old ones," grumbled Lukas.
"They're real dirty. Can you buy me some new ones at the convenience store?"
"Fuck you. Lemme sleep."
"I'll make you coffee," pleaded Mathias.
"Make me coffee and we'll talk."
"You're the best, Luke." Mathias leaned down and nuzzled his lover's neck. "How do you like your coffee?"
"Cream, one spoon of sugar. Beans are next to the machine."
Mathias smiled, hitching his towel around his waist. "One coffee, cream, one spoon of sugar, coming right up." He left Lukas too his morning snooze. It was no loss, he was in the mood for a cup of coffee himself. He poured the beans into the machine, added the filter, and watched the beans percolate and the coffee brew. Two cups. Just cream, no sugar for himself, and cream and one spoon of sugar for Lukas. By the time he returned with the coffee, Lukas was sitting up in his bed expectantly, aroused by the smell of coffee circulating through the house. Mathias handed him his cup and sat on the edge of the bed, the sheets sinking under his weight.
"You make good coffee," Lukas said suddenly.
"I do?"
"Yeah. I'm not sure how, but I like when you make me coffee." He took another sip.
"Oh, like that time you came over to my place?"
Lukas bristled. "Let's... Not talk about that," he mumbled into his coffee cup, "not my proudest moment."
Mathias leaned over and gave Lukas's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "There was a secret ingredient both times I made you coffee," he said, a glint in his cerulean eyes.
"Oh, really? What would that be?" challenged Lukas.
"Love!"
Lukas almost did a spit-take, but instead forced the mouthful of coffee down his throat with a cough. "Are you serious?" he answered hoarsely, eyes set in an annoyed glare, "You..." he sputtered, "...big cheese."
When Mathias's only answer was the same dumb smile still plastered on his face, Lukas finished the rest of his coffee, leaned forward, and pressed his lips to Mathias's, leaving the taste of sugared coffee on his tongue.
"I love you, too. Now let me shower so I can go get you some underwear."
XxX
While Lukas was gone, Mathias took the opportunity to change the sheets and air out Lukas's room. Lukas's bed was bare now, but Mathias could just ask him where his spare set of sheets was when he came back. The most important part was getting the remains of the overpowering scent of sex in the room out. He sprayed freshener into the air. He opened the window, and stopped to look outside.
It was a nice day, sunny, warm, and spring-like, but the scenery made it almost perfect. There were large, ornate houses everywhere, surrounded by flowering trees and slender iron fences. He sighed, taking in the pleasant air–Lukas's neighborhood was so much different from his. It was a kind of nice change from the dingy apartment he lived in.
It only took Lukas a few minutes to drive down, pick out a wrapped package of boxers in Mathias's size, and come back, but apparently, in those few minutes, Mathias had figured out how to open his window and was now propped up against the sill, sighing at the scenery as naked as the day he was born. He almost laughed out loud; even with the sappy expression on his face and his hair starting to frizz from not being dried properly, Mathias somehow still looked cool.
Maybe that's just one of the things about being in love, he thought as he waved to Mathias and went inside.
XxX
Soon, Mathias was all dressed, and after breakfast, they hopped into Lukas's car and drove off.
The Playgay studio was deeper in the city than Mathias would have liked. Lukas lived in one of the richest neighborhoods of South Berlin, while Mathias lived in one of the not-quite-as-rich ones. Image was located in the south of the east central district, but Playgay was in the heart of Berlin, the emerging city center. For both men, it was a bit of a commute, made even worse by the traffic they encountered. By the end, they were tired, hungry, hot from being in the car, and cranky. Thankfully, Mathias knew better than to provoke Lukas when he was cranky. They walked into the building, stopping at a water fountain to cool their faces off, and found the office.
Immediately they were greeted by a pretty woman, definitely a couple years older than them, with porcelain-like skin and mousy hair cascading down her shoulders and back, in which she wore orange flowers most likely plucked from one of the bushes outside. "Hello, can I help you two?" she asked sweetly.
"Yes. I'm Lukas Bondevik, and I was supposed to meet Mr. Kiku Honda here," said Lukas.
"Oh, you're the new model! One minute, he'll be out shortly." She pressed a few buttons on her phone, and soon, he burst into the office through a single wooden door in the back.
He was a small Asian man, shorter than both Lukas and Mathias, probably around Tino's height, thought Lukas. His hair and eyes were both dark and shiny, and he gave off an aura of demure frailty, but the way he moved under his dark blue suit had a power behind it, almost lethal. "Elizaveta, did you call me?" he called upon entrance.
"Mr. Bondevik is here," she replied.
His face lit up upon seeing Mathias and Lukas standing in the doorway. "Bondevik, I didn't know you were bringing a friend! Why didn't you tell me?" Kiku exclaimed excitedly, giving Mathias a once-over. Mathias shuddered; he felt like he had been covered in currywurst sauce and thrown into a cage with hungry lions.
"This is my... Friend, Mathias," said Lukas, "we're both from the same modeling company. He was considering getting a job here as well."
"Pleasure to meet you," Mathias held out a hand for him to shake. Kiku pulled on a latex glove then proceeded to shake the offered hand, and he led them into his personal office, motioning for them to sit in the two chairs in front of his desk.
Though this was solely supposed to be Lukas's interview, Kiku interrogated Mathias as well. They answered whatever questions Kiku shot at them, Lukas with a polite smile and finesse, Mathias with a broad grin and enthusiasm. It lasted for maybe half an hour before Kiku rose from his seat with a smile on his face, pulled on another latex glove, and held out his hands for both Lukas and Mathias to shake.
"Both of you are hired!"
XxX
Their first "assignment," as Kiku liked to call it, was to meet some of the other models and explore the office. Lukas amusedly thought of it as the beginning of one of Emil's adventure video games and dubbed it their "first quest of the new realm," which left Mathias in stitches.
The Playgay headquarters was actually much smaller than Image's, only taking up one floor as opposed to Image's two and a half. Part of that was because there was no actual stage for photography; rather, a rickety one had been set up in an empty room with cameras on tripods and white and black sheets as a background. Next door to one side was a computer lab, and to the other side was a dressing room with various questionable clothing, a sink, and a vanity covered with different types of makeup.
Mathias sifted through the rack of questionable clothing and held up a pastel pink nurse's outfit with a skirt so short, it was illegal. "Luke, you sure you wanna do this?"
"It's not like I haven't compromised my dignity before," replied Lukas nonchalantly, holding an outfit that was barely more than strings tied together in front of himself and checking himself out in the vanity mirror. "It's like modeling underwear. Except there's less underwear."
"You've modeled underwear before? I have got to hear about this."
Before Lukas could say anything, a loud laugh sounded from out of nowhere. Lukas looked at Mathias, expecting him to have caused the sudden noise, yet the taller blonde looked just as surprised as he was.
They looked around. The source of the laughter was sitting on the limited floor space between one of the other clothing racks and the sink, still chortling. His knees were pulled to his chest to make room for another, who stared up at Mathias and Lukas, sheepishness in his dark brown eyes.
"That's one way to describe this job," the laughing man snickered, getting up. He was tall, well-built, and obviously Asian, evidenced by his flyaway chestnut hair and almond-shaped eyes. His friend got up as well: shorter, Asian as well, with long dark hair tied into a ponytail above the nape of his neck.
The taller man pointed at Lukas. "Are you the newbie Kiku was going on about yesterday?"
"I guess I am," said Lukas, "and you would be...?"
"Yong Soo Im. Playgay beauty extraordinaire." He extended his hand. Lukas shook it.
"'Beauty extraordinaire?'" the shorter man spat, tossing his ponytail over his shoulder, "Please, if anyone's the beauty here, it's Matthew Williams." He looked at the two newcomers. "I'm Yao Wang, by the way. Pleased to meet you."
"You as well," Lukas replied politely, "I'm Lukas Bondevik and this is Mathias Køhler. We were just hired today as models for this magazine."
Mathias let his arm slip around Lukas's waist. "We're lovers," he proclaimed proudly, nuzzling Lukas's cheek.
Lukas shrugged and gently pushed Mathias away. Not in public, he mouthed.
The other two fell silent, eyes wide and mouths gaping.
"If you guys have a problem with this," Mathias grit his teeth, rage twisting his features.
"It's not that, Mr. Køhler," Yao said, "It's just–"
"You guys are boyfriends?" Yong Soo interrupted, shocked, "Kiku's gonna have a field day with you guys!"
Yao clapped a hand over Yong Soo's mouth, silencing his muffled mumbles with a vicious glare. Lukas and Mathias looked at each other, then at the scene unfolding in front of them, then at each other again before Mathias piped up, "And this is a problem... how?"
"Just... There's been nasty rumors flying around about the last couple that thought it was a good idea to work here," Yao said darkly, "generally, if you're in a relationship, you might want to keep it on the down-low, especially around Kiku."
"That, and if you have dirty hands," laughed Yong Soo, peeling Yao's hands from his face, "he's the biggest germaphobe I know."
"He's the only germaphobe you know," Yao shot back, "at least he knows how to keep this place clean!"
As Yao and Yong Soo bickered, all Lukas and Mathias could do was stand awkwardly in the room, shooting worried glances at each other and hoping they could just fade into the wallpaper.
"Kiku's gonna have a field day?" What the hell does that mean?
I'm not quite sure, but what about that couple that worked here?
What are we supposed to be doing anyway?
An unfamiliar, awkward environment. Questions which demanded answers. Mathias twiddled his thumbs behind his back, unsure of what to do. It was Lukas who made the first move.
"Well," said the shorter blonde, "I guess we should get going. There's more of this place to explore!" They politely said their goodbyes to Yong Soo and Yao and left the room.
XxX
Mathias and Lukas returned to Kiku's office, who ushered them in again with a smile.
"Thank you for joining us," he said, "we've been... Rather short-staffed recently. Welcome to our family."
"Thank you for accepting us," Lukas replied, "I guess we'll see you on Thursday, then?"
"Yes. Just in time for the May issue. We can do a couple test shoots and see how it goes."
Lukas smiled politely. "That's good. See you Thursday." He turned to leave the room without beckoning for Mathias to follow. Mathias said a quick goodbye to Kiku and hastily followed Lukas out of the room.
Such an uncharacteristic display of non-affection by his new boyfriend would have immediately put Mathias off, but, recalling Yong Soo's words, "Kiku's gonna have a field day," he saw the reason behind it and did not touch Lukas again until they were out of the building and back in his car.
XxX
Lukas dropped Mathias off at his apartment later that afternoon.
"Thanks for the ride," said Mathias, leaning down for a kiss, "and the underwear. I'll see you tomorrow at work?"
"Mm. You too."
The old grandfather clock in the lobby chimed six times. Mathias and Lukas stood there, listening to the quiet "bong"s filling the air.
"You handled that well," Mathias said, admiration tinging his voice, "I would have lost it and started flipping out in the middle of the studio."
Lukas smiled. "Well, you didn't, so that's good." He felt a small bit of pride over Mathias's self-restraint well up in him.
Mathias squeezed his hands. "You're much... Warmer, nowadays," he mumbled idly.
"What do you mean?"
Shit, did I really say that out loud? Mathias panicked, searching Lukas's face for any hint of the characteristic annoyance and anger he would express after hearing Mathais say something weird, but there was none, simply a look of calm intrigue. That was a good sign. Mathias sighed, preparing his answer, "Well... You used to be frigid. Kinda sharp, like ice."
"Ice, really?" Lukas raised an eyebrow skeptically.
Mathias nodded. "But warm ice?" he offered, "like... You have a campfire, and then there's a thick coating of ice over it, and..."
Lukas interrupted him by pinching his cheeks between his fingers and stretching them out. "Rationalize it with any strange and obtuse metaphor you wish," he said, "but I have a certain hot-blooded dummy to blame for this." He released his hold on Mathias's face, following up with a kiss to each cheek, then turned to leave.
"See you tomorrow, you hot-blooded dummy," Lukas smirked over his shoulder.
Mathias watched him go, bewildered, a warm feeling tingling in his chest and across his cheeks.
AN: This took for-freaking-ever, but I'm glad I was able to get it uploaded!
Enjoy, everyone! 3