Chapter Text
Damen made himself comfortable against the window sill as much as possible and settled for what proved to be one of those long drawn out Laurent-Nikandros shouting match. Well, Nikandros did all the shouting, Laurent never lost his cool. And Damen had figured out a long time ago not to interfere too early, otherwise Nikandros’s volcanic rage and Laurent’s sharp tongue would be focused on him.
No, thank you, his father had raised Damen to be an intelligent man with a keen sense of self preservation.
“Absolutely not,” Laurent said. His ocean blue eyes sharp with determination. Damen sighed; this wasn’t going to be a smooth sailing.
“Laurent, after all the drama with you and with that sad excuse of a brother Kastor, it is high time for Damen and you to come out to present a united front. This is a good opportunity.” Nikandros threw up his hands and dragged them through his long hair, already at the end of his patience. Then again, Nikandros was never very tolerant of Laurent and Damen could not fault him because Gods knew, Laurent could give even Napoleon run for his money.
“With all the bed service Damen did to half of the film industry, Nikandros, there is no need for official coming out for him and I have already done that.” Laurent shot Damen a look and delicately pushed an errant piece of hair behind his ear.
“Slut shaming, now?” Damen piped in, a cheeky grin on his lips.
“Never. Just pointing out certain facts,” Laurent replied, eyes dancing with amusement. He sat down, stretching his legs on the settee and picked up the book he was reading before Nikandros barged in with Damen in tow.
“Laurent, this is important. It was your decision to make your relationship public and now that I’ve brought you a golden opportunity to do so properly-”
“I did not make that decision; you know that very well.” Laurent glanced up at Damen again and went back to flipping his book, seemingly looking for the page he was on. Damen allowed himself a little bashful smile as Nikandros droned on.
Laurent was not the one to make their relationship public. It had been Damen who had professed his love, very melodramatically as Laurent often likes to point out, in front of thirty thousand people. That was a story for another day, but Damen could say with absolute certainty that he regrets nothing. What kind of an actor would he be if not a bit dramatic in real life?
“-you have to know that this is not some sort of crappy television show. They are a reputed magazine and it is for their online content they want to do for pride month. It’ll be short video clip with Damen and you answering a few questions about your relationship and whatnot-”
“No.” Irritation was bleeding through Laurent’s voice now even though he was the picture-perfect example of composure as he leaned back against the settee, eyes lazily tracing the words written in the book; as if Nikandros wasn’t screaming his head off just a few feet away from him. Flippant as ever.
“You’re being unreasonably stubborn. You should have thought of your precious privacy before you jumped…”
“Nikandros,” Damen cut Nikandros off loudly before it escalated any further, “leave us alone for a moment.”
“No, please finish your sentence, Nikandros. Before I what?” Laurent closed his book with a snap and turned his whole attention on Nikandros, eyes cold enough to freeze you solid, “Before I jumped into Damen’s bed? You should know that it did not happen in a bed for the first time. Actually, he pushed me against the wall…”
“Now, please, Nikandros,” Damen said with a voice of a field commander, leaving no room for arguments.
Nikandros glared at Damen, no doubt cursing Damen to hell and back, and walked out, slamming the library door shut.
Letting out a weary sigh, Damen pushed himself against the window sill and came towards the settee Laurent was sitting on. Laurent made room for Damen without even sparing him a glance. Damen slid in behind Laurent. Wrapping his arms around Laurent’s waist, Damen pulled him in against his chest as Laurent went back to his book.
“Do you really think that riling Nik up is the best way to handle this situation?” Damen asked softly, running his fingers through Laurent’s silky golden hair. He smiled a little as Laurent leaned into his touch, relaxing his shoulders gradually. Damen tightened his arms around Laurent’s waist as he shuffled around a bit to find a more comfortable angle to sit between Damen’s legs.
Laurent closed his eyes, the book forgotten in his lap. He answered in a low voice, “But it is so much fun.”
“It's clearly no fun for him,” Damen replied gently, letting his fingers play through Laurent’s hair.
He looked straight at the shiny Writers Guild Award sitting proudly on the fire place mantle. Laurent was no stranger to fame. He was one of the greatest screenwriters of their generation and yes, Damen might be a little biased but Laurent had Awards and critical acclamation to back that statement. Little bookworm Laurent who used to trail behind Damen and Auguste always had the ability to light everyone around him with his shy smiles, in his own special way. As he grew up, Damen had known that Laurent Devereux could achieve anything he wanted.
Laurent had given his fare share of interviews before; had been under camera scrutiny all his life by the virtue of being a member of Devereux family and the little brother of Academy Award winning Auguste Devereux. Even though Laurent guarded his privacy zealously, Damen could not understand why Laurent was so against giving this one silly interview with Damen.
An errant thought of Laurent being ashamed of their relationship made Damen frown, but he chased the thought away. They never sat down to decide that ‘okay, from now on we are officially seeing each other and no one shall have any kind of knowledge about this.’ But somehow along the way with Kastor and Laurent’s Uncle trying to sabotage everything Damen and Laurent had worked for, guarding the new found affections for each other felt more necessary than ever. So, they never said anything; until Damen’s dramatic declaration of love, that is.
Laurent was not an amateur when it came to navigating media manipulation. He had proven again and again that he could handle himself. Why this interview is so special was beyond Damen’s understanding.
Damen nuzzled against Laurent’s temple and left a soft kiss there, “What’s the real problem here, Laurent? What are you thinking?”
Laurent twisted around just a little so that he could see Damen’s face. Damen leaned in to steal a soft kiss and said in a low voice, “Tell me what is bothering you, little maven.”
Laurent made a vague noise of objection at the childhood nickname and settled back against Damen’s chest again. Laurent’s silence made the sound of the wall clock seem rather loud.
Damen assumed that Laurent wasn’t going to answer. He was about nudge Laurent when Laurent finally replied in a sullen voice, eyes still closed, head resting on Damen’s shoulder, “Do we have to do this? If it was anything other than you… us, I would have…” Laurent trailed off, then with a more resolute voice he said, “I would prefer if they just leave us alone. It would simply divert all the attention from your work to your private life." He snapped his mouth close, as if he had already said more than he wanted.
Damen finally got a hold of Laurent’s train of thoughts and a wide grin adorned his lips. His little maven who resembles a porcupine on so many levels simply wanted to protect Damen from harsh criticism of outsiders. Laurent refused to give insight into their relationship so that no one could hurt them.
Laurent was shielding what he considered precious by building tall walls all around Damen and himself. That thought alone made Damen giddy with joy. What a heady feeling it is to be that important to someone.
“I’m one of the hottest and well-known actors in the industry and there are a few people who might have heard about you too,” Laurent snorted at that and Damen continued, a goofy smile on his lips, “so, it’s only natural that my heartbroken fans would want to know about this mysterious man who’ve called dibs on me.”
Laurent hummed low in his voice, a non-committal sound.
“Laurent, after the whole media circus Kastor and your Uncle tried to pull, accusing you of plagiarism, dragging us through mud for no reason other than greed and jealousy, it has already sullied your name enough…”
Laurent scoffed, “As if I care…”
“I know, I know,” Damen rushed, “you don’t care and I don’t want you to care about what those low lives say but I care.”
When Laurent gave him a startled look, Damen smiled and pressed his lips against his little maven’s forehead, “I care because I want everyone to know what a gem you are. You’ve always done everything to protect me and Auguste. And I need the world to acknowledge that. I want everyone to know that life has thrown you countless curve balls and you’ve expertly maneuvered them all. I want to let my well-wishers to know that I’ve given my heart to someone for safekeeping who refuses to give up, who would kill for the people he considers his own and would die for them without a second thought. I want to give the world a chance to know the truest man I’ve ever known.”
Damen’s heart twisted painfully at the look of pure bewilderment on Laurent’s face. Damen reminded himself of the vow he had taken to love Laurent so much that one day his little maven would not look so shocked at sincere, tender words.
Damen cupped Laurent’s face gently and gave one of his reckless smirks, “And the Laurent Devereux I know, never backed down from a challenge. Are you backing down now?”
Laurent stared at Damen’s lips for a few dazed moments. Before Damen knew what was going on, Laurent had straddled Damen, entwining his arms around Damen’s neck, “Trying your hand at manipulation, Damianos? What have you become?”
“Must be the company I’ve been keeping these days.”
“Must be.” Laurent’s fingers found their way into Damen’s dark curls. He had his head tilted a bit, as he always did when thinking something through.
“You don’t have to decide right now-” Damen said, breaking Laurent out of his musing.
“I need to approve the potential questions before they are asked and edit them if necessary.”
“Absolutely,” Damen promised.
“One offensive or even remotely stupid question and I’m walking out.”
“And I’ll be right behind you,” Damen nodded with conviction.
“You cannot call me little maven or adorable or cute or anything stupid like that neither on camera nor in front of them.”
“No promises.”
“Damen,” Laurent gave him a stern look, though it did not have the desired effect as Laurent was putting up a Herculean effort to fight against the smile threatening to break out on his lips and to Damen’s utmost delight, Laurent’s eyes lit up just as the smile finally broke free.
Damen pulled him closer and gave him a smacking kiss, “No promises. So, we’re doing this, right?”
Laurent gave him a considering look, “We are.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Grinning like a complete lunatic, Damen drove in to kiss the day light out of Laurent. Soft lips moving against each other, hands roaming aimlessly, touching everywhere, all at once.
The world wasn’t ready for Laurent Devereux and Damianos Akeilos. Damen could not wait to see the whole world fall in love with Laurent. He would smile in utter satisfaction because it was about time Laurent got all the love and affection he deserved from the world. It was about time.