Work Text:
Dearly
Shane’s skin was soft.
If he was any other person, Ryan would have already done something to get him away from him, but this was Shane .
Shane with soft and long fingers, with his warmth, and his weird ideas, his silly humor and calm demeanor. Just Shane.
He sighed, swallowing as he felt his friend’s fingers slowly caress the exposed skin of his knee and thigh, tracing little patterns that meant nothing as he kept reading the research the team had helped him put together for a new Puppet History video.
It had started as just a casual touch of his knuckles once upon a time. About two years ago when they were travelling for Unsolved. Ryan had said nothing because it had been just a little touch, it had felt right at the time as it did now. Nothing to be worried about, nothing to give him ideas of something he once thought was never going to happen.
Nowadays, it was different.
Now he heard him say shit no friend would say. Ryan could see it in the way Shane looked at him and acted around him, that whatever he always thought was there between them was real and not just a play of his too enamoured mind.
Ryan licked his lips. Shane’s fingers had found their way to his knee the second the older guy noticed the rip on his jeans.
It was no secret Shane liked them. How could he not? It made Ryan’s legs look wonderful, it hugged his ass in all the right places, it allowed these little soothing games to happen for the day. If Ryan wore them more often since realizing this, it was nobody’s business.
“Just ask him out” , both Jake and Steven had suggested.
“And what if he says no?” , Ryan had consulted with his mother.
"And what if he says yes?" , his mom asked back.
He sighed, looking at Shane at his side to find him pensive. Far away from the office and his reading. His eyes weren’t following whatever words there were on his screen. Something else had his mind occupied and Ryan wondered if he should interrupt or not.
Deciding not to, he just watched as he felt Shane’s fingers lingering softly on his skin, tenderly exploring and drawing things Ryan would love to have tattooed on himself just to show everyone Shane had touched him this sweet, this good, this nice, and that he was the only one who could do that, who could make him think of the future and the present with just the touch of his fingertips.
He swallowed again, looking down as Shane’s fingers had started to go down inside his jeans, touching more risque skin on his thigh until his entire palm was on Ryan’s leg.
When he looked up, thinking of asking Shane if everything was alright, he found the man already looking at him, with a sort of neutral expression ,clearly indicating that no joke was coming. It made him blink, wondering what was going on.
“Shane?”
“Ry,” Shane started, there was a small smile on his face, “you wanna have lunch together today?”
“Uh, sure.” He answered, frowning as he wondered why that had felt so different.
“Great!” He said, sighing with closed eyes as his hand moved on Ryan’s leg over his jeans, giving his thigh a squeeze before talking again. “It’s a date.”
Ryan blinked a couple of times, unsure of what he had heard just now.
“Yeah, okay...” He answered, seeing as Shane smiled and squeezed again, going back to work with his hand now resting on Ryan’s knee.
A date.
He had a date with Shane.
Ryan felt his cheeks redden, clearing his throat before continuing with answering emails for the day. He heard Shane chuckle, and there was something almost childish in the way he laughed, making Ryan laugh as well with a giddiness he hadn’t felt in a while.
“Finally.” Ryan said, making Shane laugh harder, his hand never leaving him.
It felt as if he was holding him dearly, close to his heart.