This sort of manipulative power was definitely going to Mikhail's head, the heady feeling of small pushes and pulls to control someone's emotions was much too addicting. Mikhail always knew he was a wicked person, he thrived on control – tearing it away from people and leaving them no choice but to fall in line or die, to squish them under his thumb and attach strings to their lives, a puppet master in truth– and now he was using it all on Akihito.
Hell was the only place for him, surely, but he couldn't care less because he'd known he was damned before he even met Akihito.
Even though skydiving really was fucking awesome, and he knew Akihito would dig the view from the top – it all served another purpose that was purely for his benefit. He knew Akihito had an aversion to heights, it wasn't a full-blown fear that would make him panic, but it was enough that he could harness the unease and use it.
He'd take Akihito on an emotional sky dive, take him all the way up with their initial meeting at the hotel – which he'd done already – and then push him off the edge with a real life jump. He'd simmer in his own nervousness while Mikhail did nothing – and when it looked like he was about to hit the bottom that's when he'd step in to comfort him.
Oh it was so fucking devious, Akihito would be forced to let go of some of his control then, to give it to Mikhail and rely on him, to trust him and fall deeper down the rabbit hole that was Mikhail's domain – all at the same time as he fell through the sky and was too high on adrenaline to realize what was happening.
He'd promised himself he wasn't going to do things this way, but it was too easy, it was a sure-fire way of reeling Akihito into the place of no return, which is exactly where he wanted him. Mikhail could only ignore his domineering side for so long – he was a bad person down to his soul – so why should he stop now? It was time to show Akihito the real thing, but that was only after they'd landed and in turn convinced Akihito that he was safe with him.
Now that wasn't to say it wasn't all just for a good time, but if he could kill two birds with one stone then he wouldn't miss the chance. Mikhail himself would still have a fucking blast, because what could be better than being so close to Akihito, thousands of feet up in the air with the view of his city below. So yeah, he'd still been looking forward to the genuine date part of it, a lot actually.
Akihito's reactions to him still pleased him to no end, and as usual the conversation was a breath of fresh air, the touches and glances shared left him wanting. It all felt so goddam natural, this instinct to be close, to feel his heat and to let loose and laugh – to be an actual human capable of feeling.
It was the only validating thing really, because even though reassuring Akihito fit into his scheme, it was something he would do regardless, because it too was instinctual – the urge to encourage him and take away his troubles.
So when the time came for him to step in close to a strung out Akihito, to tease him and wind him up further, and then undo it all with a touch and more honest words to make Akihito relax against his body as a result; almost made him dizzy with power and fulfillment all at once.
Mikhail wasn't the only one doing the hypnotizing – he was well aware of that, but he supposed it was only right that the power exchange was equal, even if his cute Japanese artist was oblivious to it.
His shoes squeaked every now and then on the smooth concrete as they made their way through the giant hangar doors to the small but perfectly damn fine plane they would be jumping from, and Akihito's heart was already in his fucking throat again. It was part fear, part excitement now, which was better then being just plain scared probably.
The sky was red as the sun set, and the air was still, perfect conditions for jumping according to the pilot, who seemed to know Mikhail on a first name basis – which piqued his curiosity a ton.
Tonight he'd make an effort to pry information from Mikhail. He wasn't sure how long he could go on knowing next to nothing, because no matter how you looked at it, it wasn't normal to not even know the guys last name at this point. Before he got too drawn in, and he knew full well he was being drawn in – it wasn't like he could help it though, Mikhail had him right from the very start outside that café – he had to know what he was getting himself into.
It was still in the back of his head that maybe Mikhail could be a renowned Russian playboy, and Akihito was just his flavor of the month. Not that he wouldn't mind if it were that, because you didn't get the chance to be in the company of people like Mikhail often at all, but it was the not knowing that would be the let down – because he was starting to convince himself it was more than that now. And when you started to think that way – it gave way to your vulnerabilities. He'd always prided himself on self-preservation, and this entire thing was the very opposite. Yeah, he was scared of jumping, and he was fucking scared of finding out the truth, but he would find out nonetheless.
It was funny because he'd been frustrated at waiting all damn day for this moment, but now that it was here he felt like he needed more time yet again, exactly like their first date. Oho, he was so fucking nervous, holy shit.
The last time he was this nervous was when he was waiting for his final marks on his last ever university project which would determine if he graduated with honors or not – the marks that determined whether he got to go on this fucking trip or not.
"Babe - fuck, I mean Akihito, would you put this in your zip pocket for me?" the query from next to him – and the intrusion of Mikhail's open palm bursting into his vision as he looked down startled him, and his shoes screeched to a stop on the concrete.
"Babe?" he cocked his head as he looked at the gold ring that he'd seen on Mikhail's finger sitting inconspicuously in his hand. Around him the propellers on the small plane started to spin, and men around them flurried as the door to the aircraft slid open.
"Sorry, it slipped out, but mm, I think I like calling you that." The man hummed to himself as he thought about it, then decided with a smug nod, confirming his own musings, but then his eyes shot back to a blushing Akihito, fixing him in place "Look after this for me please?"
And he knew Misha was doing it again, whatever it was to distract him from getting nervous, bringing his attention away from the crazy thing he was about to do and focusing it all on the Russian instead. Once again he fell for it, it was impossible to ignore Mikhail. "Why? You've got pockets." He looked down at the ring, it shone with luster, it had tiny scratches from wear that had oxidized and turned black, the inscription around the outside was the same, aged and darkened with experience and constant wear. It was an importing ring. Akihito felt it in the pit of his stomach, something told him that even though it was small; it was much heavier than anything he'd ever carried before.
"Look at me, Akihito." The words weren't their usual softness, closer to a command coupled with the severe gaze Mikhail was directing at him. "I want you to look after this for me, and when you give it back to me tonight, ask me what it says… and I'll tell you."
Before he could answer, the low drone of the propellers blocked him out as they sped up, faster and faster until it was time to get this over and done with and just get on the fucking plane. Mikhail did it all for him, unzipped the small pocket on his chest and dropped the ring in, zipped it back up with a pat on the fabric to confirm it was there, and then dragged him onto the aircraft with the laughing smile back on his face.
"Are you ready?!" Mikhail had to shout into his ear even though they were strapped incredibly close together, he had his goggles on, and he was staring down at the earth thirteen hundred fucking feet below as the door was pulled open by an assistant.
"No!" he was definitely not fucking ready! His pulse blocked out the engine noise, his vision reduced to looking down at how fucking far he had to fall. No way.
His hands were sweating profusely and he didn't even know what to do with them, flap like an absolute moron so maybe he would have some chance at not going splat. Yeah, flap flap motherfucker.
"It's okay, Akihito," came the next declaration. Mikhail reached around and grabbed his hands, completely enveloping Akihito with his body, and even now he still noticed how well they fit together.
Firm, calm fingers entwined with his and squeezed in unspoken reassurance, "On three."
And he squeezed back as he screwed his eyes shut and listened to the countdown.
"One." He took an unsteady breath, and held it onto it like it was his last.
"Two." Tried not to resist the urge to throw up as he focused on the pressure building in his veins.
"Three." Then he was falling face first as Mikhail pushed them off from the platform.
He screamed his voice raw as his eyes snapped open on instinct, first in terror as the earth started to get rapidly bigger beneath him, the air rushed passed his face and sucked his breath away, and behind him he could only just hear Mikhail's excited whoops as they fell in the typical star shape with their limbs spread.
The feeling of weightlessness took over after the initial horror, of actually flying, of being so far removed from the earth that looking at it all from here made it seem so insignificant; and that none of the small shit actually mattered when you saw the bigger picture. That's when he felt the adrenaline course through his veins, then he was screaming in euphoria instead as freedom and exhilaration filled every fiber of his existence.
And just as he started to struggle for breath and panic anew, the parachute snapped open when Mikhail pulled the cord. His world shifted from roaring winds passed his face, and the thrill of free fall, to something entirely different.
"Look, Akihito." The whisper was perfectly audible now, there was no other sound apart from them, no more wind, just a stillness that he would have never thought possible as they drifted down and down with the billowing shoot above them.
Like this he could finally encompass the entire picture in his head instead of the tunnel vision when it came to falling, and what he saw now…. he would remember for the rest of his life.
One side of the horizon before him was lit in a burning red glow as if the earth itself was on fire, the wispy clouds that were strewn across the sky shone in the most brilliant hue of red he'd ever seen. If he reached out, it felt like he'd be burnt, his hand engulfed by the flames.
It wasn't just that though, because as you trailed your eyes across the horizon those reds turned to purples and blues, violets and indigoes, darker and darker as night crept in and drowned the sun in its darkness – the edge of the world.
The glow of the sun, the moon and stars all beckoned in one complete picture, a masterpiece of the biggest proportions, something art could never, ever imitate. The only way you could see this, to feel like he was feeling at this exact moment was to be here, where he was wit this person behind him.
How many times today was he going to be unable to breathe?
And then, as if this moment couldn't possibly get any better; the lights of the St Petersburg highways and streets started to flicker on district by district – a twinkle in the corner of his vision, a glimmer right in front, until he couldn't keep track of it all and he could only watch as the city came to life – a sparkling canvas beneath him.
"It's beautiful, right?" even though Mikhail's hands were meant to be controlling the toggles on the parachute, they wound around his waist and made Akihito much too aware of his presence once more.
"Yeah…" there were no other words he could say that would justify how true it really was.
"I saw your sketch of the city that you must have seen from the plane, and I remember one time I flew back in at this time of day, and this sight has never left me, I wanted you to see it too, my city like this."
"I… woah. Thank you." He said it so quietly he thought Mikhail wouldn't hear him, but he was so wrong on that front. Bare hands trailed up his body as they continued floating, until one hand took control of his neck to feel his still racing pulse, and the other urged his face to turn to look Mikhail in the eye – he'd taken his goggles off, and now he was taking Akihito's off too. He shoved them down the front of Akihito's suit to get rid of them, and then the hand was back on his cheek.
"Your heart is going crazy."
Because I am going crazy, Akihito wanted to say. "Because I just jumped out of a fucking plane." Not because we're close enough to kiss. Sarcasm was really good at a time like this, anything to hide his awkwardness.
"It's okay, mine is too." And oh, that was it. He was caught up in this person hook, line and sinker, it must have been the cliché-ness of it all as their faces drew close that sealed his fate and told him it was okay to be feeling like this, okay to bare it all thousands of feet up in the air with the world at their feet and not another soul in sight to see this moment.
He was falling literally and figuratively, and it was so cheesy and fucking typical of a romantic sappy date but he couldn't give a fuck about that because it was also so damn good.
It was so much more gentle than he'd ever been kissed before that it was like it could end at any moment, like Mikhail could pull away and it would be over. And because he'd been sucked so far in he didn't want it to end at all, he wanted more, so much so that he was willing to let it show, to show vulnerability and kiss back harder.
The primal grunt that vibrated through Mikhail's chest only encouraged him, until he was kissing Mikhail for all he was worth, the hand on his neck raked down under the hem of the jumpsuit and traced the line of his collar bone, back and forth until it went back up to his pulse to feel its rhythm – which was raging out of control even more so now.
The only reason they stopped was to catch their breath, and only then did his world fall back on its axis as he went back to the view and realized how much further they'd drifted down.
"Oh! That reminds me." Mikhail exclaimed behind him, he felt him fidget and heard a zipper and then Mikhail's arm shot out in front of them both with his cellphone in it.
"Oi, don't! You'll drop it, you nut case!"
"Oho, nut case, you think so highly of me! Nah, I won't drop it so smile and take a selfie with me, okay Pumpkin?" there he was teasing again.
"Who're you calling Pumpkin?!" he turned to glare and found Mikhail looking right at him, through him with his mercurial eyes that were definitely regarding him with a fondness that no one could fake.
He heard the shutter noise go off, once, twice and on the third noise he looked back just in time to see the photo, see the moment between them captured perfectly on a shitty phone camera.
"Ah, time to start taking control of this thing I guess." The phone went back, and Mikhail's hands went up to the toggles at last to control the parachute towards the landing field.
The ground was coming up fast now, and the rush made itself known all over again when he realized he'd really just fucking done it, and that it had been fucking amazing like Mikhail said.
With scary expert precision and control they swooped down over the field of soft grass as they came in and his feet were reunited with solid ground once more, but because they were still strapped together it was all a mass off legs as they both tried to find their footing and slow the momentum.
"Wah, shit!" and he was two seconds away from really going splat on his face until Mikhail put all his weight backwards and they fell that way instead with a rush of air and fits of laughter.
Above them the chute was still falling on its final descent, but he ignored it in favor of hastily and messily trying to free himself, his hands were shaking like crazy, but he eventually got it done so he could turn around and face Mikhail as they both tried to catch their breath yet again.
"Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit!" he knew the wonderment was on his face, the glee and the thrill, could see it reflected in those eyes that looked at him with exactly the same emotions.
"I know, you did it!" the Russian was nothing short of beaming at him, and there was no way, ever, that he could be the bad person that Misha said he was. Not when he looked at him like that.
He didn't know what to do with himself, he needed to channel this feeling and because he was still high on endorphins; he threw himself at Mikhail and tried to convey it all with his tongue in the other man's mouth.
This time it was the sort of forceful, threatening kiss that could set his world alight, just like it looked like on the horizon, the gentleness was no where to be seen now, which was A-fucking-okay with him.
Ravenous hands roamed down his back, stopping at his ass to knead and grind them together in a way that made him wish the stupid jumpsuits were gone.
The world was reduced to just the two of them, everything else was literally blocked out as the nylon parachute fell on top of them with a synthetic hiss and trapped them both under it's colorful fabric domain.
Neither of them could see a fucking thing, the moment dissolved naturally, and in more bouts of laughter, breathless kisses and fighting with the giant clingy damn thing they finally managed to free themselves and both end up on their asses with the goofiest grins on their faces.
"Wanna go again?" Mikhail asked with the most wicked, daring grin, and of course he couldn't back down from the challenge. And he needed to see if it was the fall that made his heart race, or something else.
"Fucking aye!"
Mikhail couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun, elation and satisfaction kept the mood light between them for the entire ride back to the city. They joked about doing it again and adding tricks and rolls in the free fall, it looked like Akihito caught the adrenaline bug, and his enthusiasm was infectious.
He kept the laughter going, he needed to segue this good mood into what was to come.
Akihito still had his ring, he'd told him to keep it until they got to where they were going next, which was his club coincidentally.
It was on Akihito's mind, he'd watch his hand dip into the pocket of his jeans to make sure it was still there, it was probably unconscious, but it told Mikhail just how uneasy Akihito was now.
Meanwhile, he still had no idea how he was going to break it to him.
"My name is actually Mikhail Arbatov, and your comment about being a psycho killer wasn't that far off. Funny right?!"
Yeah, that probably wouldn't go down well. It would be better to give him small clues by taking him to the club, gaining instant entrance and royal treatment by being taken to his private rooms out the back, for Akihito to watch how the men reacted to him, and for Akihito to see how he treated his subordinates in turn.
Those things would plant the small ideas in his head so he could come to terms with them by himself, and then Mikhail would just have to confirm it – that was the best plan.
The drive back into the city went in a blur, the night lights that he'd seen come on from the sky only moments ago rushed passed in streaks of happy light.
He'd been so excited after jumping twice, that it was all he talked about in the Hummer, laughing and holding Mikhail's hand in between when the Russian's changed gears.
When he shifted in his seat every now and then, he felt the ring in the pocket of his jeans dig in, a constant reminder that he had to ask the real questions this time around.
It wasn't a matter of wanting to find out now, it was a matter of needing to. You didn't feel this way about someone and know nothing.
You didn't notice the creases in the corners of their eyes when they smiled and not know their last name, you didn't notice how their blonde hair curled in at the nape of their neck in little ringlets and not know what they did for a living, and you didn't realize how insanely long their golden eyelashes were as they blinked and not know anything about them.
He was being unreasonably uneasy about it, probably because so much hinged on it. Not that he knew what he was going to do once he found out anyway. His headstrong self told him none of this mattered, and that he shouldn't change his plans of going around the world for anyone – but the part moved by Mikhail told him never to leave, and the part moved by Mikhail was fast becoming much stronger than his headstrong self.
Confliction didn't even begin to cover it.
It was going to be fine, he told himself as they pulled into a park right in front of the busy club Mikhail said they were going to. He didn't even notice how every single street in the park was taken apart from this one.
He did notice though as they got out; the huge line for the club that went down the street, it was going to take ages to get in!
"This way, babe." Mikhail threw him a wink and took his hand without a care like usual, without a care that this was probably the busiest street in the most popular suburb of St Petersburg, and that everyone was looking at them.
The feeling of being scrutinized, weighed and measured was all to familiar, back in Japan it was because of his tattoos, the stereotype of tattoos and gangs was still strong, but it was something he'd weighed and measured himself before he went ahead and got them – and not for one moment had he ever regretted his choice.
He would carry the markings on his body with pride forever and always, and while he might be shy with Mikhail, he wasn't shy with anyone else. Instinctively, he straightened his back, fixed his posture and set his shoulders back to hold himself with confidence. If he was going to be next to someone like Mikhail, then he had to be next to him, not behind him.
"What the fuck are they all looking at?" Akihito asked a little too loudly, because he was tired of being looked at like this, and he thought overseas was the last place it would happen.
Mikhail though, just snickered in wicked amusement, and the creases at the corners of his eyes appeared just like he liked them as the Russian's hand squeezed his. "Because the owner of the club has just stepped out of the car with his crazy new boyfriend, and you look like you're gonna punch someone's lights out if they don't stop staring."
"I don't look lik– wait, what?! Boyfriend? You own this club?" Akihito sputtered, because boyfriend, owner, what?
Sure enough, to answer his question Mikhail just said "Yup and yup!" Before walking right to the front of the line and waltzing in like he owned the place, because he did own the place Akihito realized when security just stepped aside to let them in.
"So that's what you do for a living then?" he trailed as Mikhail led him in, and Akihito could practically smell the deference as they walked passed. Mikhail didn't acknowledge anyone, not with the smile he usually gave Akihito, or the cherry hello he got on the phone. Grey eyes just surveyed the men practically bowing to him in a cold, blank stare that Akihito had once before.
He knew Mikhail was capable of it, he'd seen it on the roof top when the other man came out, but he was just surprised to see it here.
And before he could even dwell on what it meant, think about how the grey in his eyes changed from something warm and so Mikhail, to something harsh and threatening in a place like this; the arm Mikhail was holding was yanked, and suddenly he was in a crushing hug with a pair of arms wrapped tight around him.
Warm breath ghosted over the top of his head as Mikhail buried his face into the top of Akihito's hair, and the unsteady breath the Russian took before he spoke brought his own nerves back full fucking force.
"I'll answer your questions in a moment, Akihito. Let's just go to my suite out back, kay?"