Strange Times

The crowd teased at the corner of his attention with waves of angst, adulation, and lust. Someone’s girlfriend was kissing a stranger, someone’s boyfriend was sneaking glances at another ass…it was a whirlwind of uncertain courting and social power plays. It was an enticing intoxication, the urge to slip into and under the fascinating waves of humanity’s nightlife. Schuldich bared his teeth in a smile that was manic and not at all contained, feeding his own emotional high off of the lust and anxiety of a roomful of hormones all moving to the same steady dancehall rhythm. Insidious hisses of emotion and sensation unraveled his sense of self, but only to a certain extent. Standing solid in his center was a man not at all inclined to share.



Schuldich let loose a triumphant whoop as the current track trailed off and merged into someone a little more laid back, letting the dancers catch their breath, catch another drink at the bar.



“You’re making an ass of yourself.” Aya hissed into Schuldich’s ear, pressing up against his back as he wrapped a rather possessive arm around Schuldich’s waist.



“On the contrary,” Schuldich laughed, pressing his ass back against Aya’s erection. “They all want me.”



Aya snarled something that preceded speech, a primal territorial claim that had Schuldich rolling his head back to expose an invitingly bare neck and throat in hopes of luring in teeth.



“Stay out of my head,” Aya growled around a mouthful of Schuldich’s throat.



‘I don’t want to.’ Schuldich swayed slightly, unconsciously keeping track of the music. ‘You don’t want me to.’



Aya would have argued, had he not been breathing a mental sigh of relief. Less of a ticking time bomb and more the fey, viciously self interested creature he remembered…



‘Thanks for the compliment.’



Schuldich was far from perfect…



‘Same to you.’



But it was better.



‘Better would be you and I with fewer clothes.’



“Stay the hell out.”



“Your inner monologue is predictable and dry. I was adding some spice.”



“You wanted predictable and dry.”



“I wanted anal retentive. I could do without the boring.”



“I am not boring.” Aya released Schuldich, less interested in marking his territory than making a point.



Schuldich was a dervish spinning in long orange hair as he rounded on Aya with a laugh. Aya had a few seconds to take in the gleam in Schuldich’s eyes, and another heartbeat to start to worry, and then Schuldich was kneeling in front of him, and looking up in a way Aya remembered rather distinctly and did not think was at all appropriate for the dance floor of a club.



‘Prude.’



“Schuldich, if you so much as…” Speech dying out into a hiss, Aya dropped a hand to Schuldich’s head. He had intended to push the pesky bastard away, to desperately scrabble after some sense of decency and dignity. Instead traitorous fingers clenched and grabbed handfuls of long hair as Schuldich’s long fingers undid his pants, as Schuldich chuckled against his erection. “Schu…”



‘Don’t worry.’ Schuldich’s telepathy eased through Aya’s uncertain tension, drew attention to the lack of attention their little display was gathering. ‘So many uses for telepathy, so little time…’ A subtle telepathic hint, and everyone was looking somewhere else.



“Bastard.” Aya couldn’t help but laugh, then gasp, as Schuldich did his best to convince him to use expletives in new, creative ways. There was something amazingly surreal about watching the club lights shine off of Schuldich’s hair, something delightfully decadent in getting away with something so gloriously indecent as getting a blowjob in the middle of a crowd. It was a new sort of adrenaline rush, oddly devoid of blood and fear. Oddly enticing.



‘Never underestimate my powers of corruption’



not a mistake Aya thought he would make in he future. He had always been the level headed one. Goal minded. Not given to chasing after something as passing as physical pleasure.



The mistake was assuming Schuldich was a pleasure of the flesh. The man wrapped himself through every neuron, involved every stray bit of mental static and managed to wrap every experience, every sensation, into something bigger than Aya had ever fathomed it could be.



‘Welcome to my world.’ Schuldich gripped Aya’s thighs, holding him steady, and let his own arousal scour its way through Aya’s mind. Aya came with a shout he was certain was audible over the music, white knuckled hands pulling fistfuls of Schuldich’s hair taut. ‘At least, the fun part of it.’



“Get up.”



“Next time, it’s my turn.” Schuldich’s eyes glittered, predatory beneath the play.



“What makes you think there will be a next time?”



“Famous last words.” Schuldich’s eyes laughed at the challenge on Aya’s face even as he very obviously wiped every stray bit of evidence of Aya’s indiscretion off of his face.



The telepathic command to look elsewhere, to pay attention to someone else, tickled at the edge of Aya’s brain, uncomfortable like the skitter of crisp leaves across pavement in the autumn. Making sure his pants were zipped, Aya frowned at Schuldich. “Why are you still…doing that?”



“We were tailed here. It seemed a good a time as any to throw them off.”



Two and two came together, and Aya barely managed to growl out his reaction. “So that was all…”



“We can slip out the back.”



“You…”



“You forgot who you were fucking. How cute.” Schuldich grinned, plopped a kiss onto Aya’s cheek and then moved out of easy striking range. “Shall we?”



“Start running. Now.”



“You’re giving me a head start. Now I know its love.” Schuldich dodged Aya’s first attack in a swirl of hair and laughter. Life couldn’t get much better.