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Laughter tracks are the most pointless things on the planet. Bane glanced to his right, and sure enough, doubled over and shaking silently under the crackle of the TV's speakers, Davide was slapping the couch arm with the flat of his palm.
"Go ahead and actually laugh, if you're gonna do that!" Bane dug his knuckles into Davide's scalp, "Laughter track exists only for jokes that nobody finds funny, you know!" Davide was still gasping for air and waving Bane's opinions away with a flippant arm.
Soft shuffling behind them announced her arrival. She wandered in and out of view, picking up discarded items of clothing, baby toys, empty glasses. And then she stood firmly in front of the television and said, "Are you kids getting in the bath, then?"
"Eh? But," Bane looked at the clock. Oh, shit. He looked back at his mom.
"School night, Haru," she said, as if that were even the issue.
"Wha, but, Hikaru's not staying over," Davide had turned to him and was watching closely. "I get it, I'll walk him back now, let's go then." He moved as if to leave, and Davide followed suit.
"Oh no, no no no." Bane's mom folded her arms, and he knew somehow that he'd already lost, but he sank back into the couch and listened. "You're not keeping the house up 'til this hour with your bickering, only to wander out after dark -- and I'll get a stupid text past midnight saying you're crashing at Hikaru's anyway, I don't think so."
"Believe me, I wo--"
"At least think of poor Cherie-san!" She looked imploringly at Davide, "Hikaru's a good boy, don't make him cause trouble for his poor mother!" Bane thrust his head back against the couch, sighing heavily and rolling his eyes, but it didn't impress his mom. "Bath then? Oh, I hope Hikaru's futon is clean, it's been a while since we had it out."
She had her hand on the closet handle. Bane jumped to his feet quickly. "I'll! I'll get that, mom, I'll set it up. You already have your hands full." She raised her eyebrows at him, shrugged, and sauntered away. Davide was standing beside the couch, watching him silently. That quiet look felt so heavy, and Bane felt a vague ache in his stomach. He bit his top lip and stomped over to Davide, shoving him in the direction of the bathroom with a rough hand, "You get in the bath! Before it gets any later!"
Once he'd kicked the magazines and dog toys under his bed, and spread the futon out on the cleared floor, Bane felt a lot less tense. The house was still, apart from the distant hissing of the shower, and Bane paced over to his desk so he could sit in front of his homework. Look busy. Got distracted by this question here and, yeah, whoops, forgot to join Davide in the bath. He stared at the words and pictured himself and Davide alone in the bath together.
The door opened, and Bane steeled himself not to look up from the paper. He heard Davide walk into the centre of the room, cloth flapping as he rubbed at his hair with a towel. "Homework?" he said.
"Yeah, got distracted." Bane looked over at him. Droplets of water from Davide's hair were falling over his shoulders, streaking over his shirt and adhering it to his body in places. "My mom's gonna kill me."
"I told her you were still in there," Davide said.
Better to adjust the temperature dial. Bane grit his teeth as the water from the shower hit him, and when he returned to his room, Davide was already curled up in the futon. "Well, goodnight," he said, switching off the light before there was any chance of conversation. His eyes had adjusted to the dark before he knew it; he hadn't even tried to fall asleep. The thickness of the night pressed in on him, and his ears buzzed to catch every breath or snore Davide made. Bane heard the duvet rustle over Davide's body as he moved, restless, from one position to another, and then a sigh, soft and deep, escaped from his lips into the stillness of the room. They weren't snores. Davide was not asleep. Bane's whole body seemed to pulse with that knowledge.
As quietly as he could, Bane moved his head to check the time. An hour had passed since he had returned from the bathroom. An hour, and lying still in the dark was too exciting, so he pushed his body forward and sat up. He watched Davide pretend to sleep for a few minutes, until doubt crept over him and he said, in a hushed voice, "Davi?"
There was no movement. Bane scratched at his hair, rubbed the back of his neck with an exasperated hand, and then shuffled out of bed to the window beside his desk. He hitched himself onto the corner of the desk, bracing one foot against the sill, squinting out at the orange streetlight from behind the blind. The itch never eased, but the two of them had done a fine job of avoiding being alone together, and high school helped. In middle school, Bane would take Davide down to that one tree in the second ground, the tallest one, and every day he thought about pushing Davide up against the trunk, just to see what would happen. That was months ago -- he'd brush the dead leaves and twigs out of Davi's hair as they returned to class -- and desires only become stronger over time.
Davide always approached him so quietly. Years of sleepovers had trained Davide well; he took a confident stride over the creaky floorboard and stood motionless before the window. His eyelids were heavy, but not from sleep, and when he glanced up at Bane through those eyelashes, Bane had to get closer. He shifted himself off the desk… and hesitated. His body burned in a fury of wanting to break the space between them, he'd called Davide out of bed for that reason, but standing with him in the darkness, Bane didn't have the balls. Earlier in the day, his dad had given him pocket money, and he'd bought snacks to share with his baby brother, who was asleep somewhere in the house, and if he touched Davi right now he couldn't ever take it back.
But tentative fingers spread out on the centre of Bane's chest. He hadn't noticed, until Davide tested with his palm, how fast his heart was beating. And Davide gave a little sigh that sounded like a smile and, oh good, you're nervous, too. Nervous? Davide was not allowed to be less nervous, fuck that, and Bane strapped his hands around Davide's waist and pulled their bodies together. They pushed up against each other, their balance swaying a little in the struggle. Bane steadied himself, putting his weight into his knees, and he slid his hands under the back of Davide's shirt for a better grip, directing Davide from the small of his back. Noses and foreheads bumped, teeth clashed together, they breathed into each other and Bane felt it like a shiver rippling through him.
Oh, okay, this worked. Yeah, this definitely worked.
He grinned against Davide's lips - Davi was pawing and grabbing at him, grappling with him and touching wherever he could reach. Every sensation he left was brief but Bane liked the fury of it, and he held Davide harder, closer, gradually letting his strength out. He felt two sharp, defiant slaps against his chest, and Davide broke away. Bane's stomach churned. Shit. Gasping, he watched Davide carefully. There was distance between them now, and room to feel uneasy about everything. Davide was not looking at him. His chest was heaving, and in the darkness Bane thought he saw Davide trembling.
He was. It was a tremble that started as his fingers twitched at the seam of his shirt, and then, challenging, he looked Bane in the eye. Davide drew his shirt up, over his head, the orange lines of light through the blinds glowing and spreading over his pure white skin. He lowered his gaze, only to look in the direction of his futon, where he tossed his unnecessary shirt in a casual gesture. The atmosphere relaxed, and Bane found it all too easy to draw Davide's body close to his again, (he frowned down at Davide's chest with fixed concentration) and together, move closer to his bed.
It was an entirely different feeling altogether, lying on top of Davide, kissing him, touching his entire body all at once. Bane kept his eyes screwed shut, and kissed. He didn't know what else to do - well, he had a good idea, but he couldn't just… His head was pounding, his face felt tight, and he was pretty sure he looked really stupid right now. But Davide surged beneath him, breaking away to breathe hot against Bane's neck. He looked, he had to look; Davide's face was an incredible pinkish shade, even in the dim light. Eyebrows furrowed, chin turned up, eyes clenched firmly closed, that gorgeous red hair curling up around his face, making his skin seem all the ruddier. And, God, Bane knew right then that he needed to see Davide completely lose it.
Bane buried his face in Davide's neck, the tips of hair tickling his cheek. He hadn't realised he was biting Davide, he hadn't realised his hands clawing blindly over Davide's body, he hadn't realised the way he shoved against Davide, pushing harder and harder. He was moving in a frenzy to the sound of Davide's gasps, loud in his ear. Or was that Davide anymore? Was it him? It didn't matter, it didn't matter any more, he could be screaming like a girl but he wasn't going to stop, it got closer and louder every second, like the footsteps in the hall outside--
Oh, fuck.
He froze, and Davide must have heard them too, because he'd stifled his breath until the room felt as innocently still as it was supposed to be. Bane raised his head, cautious that any movement he made would sound suspicious, and stared at the door. He could make out the shadow of someone standing still just behind the door. Don't come in, don't come in, don't come in! Bane's heart was still in a frenzy, but now it felt panic and regret, and those feelings didn't dissipate even after the floorboards outside creaked and the shadow moved away. He looked down at Davide, and wondered if he looked as embarrassed as Davide did. As silently as he could, Bane shifted himself away from Davide, who quietly moved over to his futon -- pulling his shirt back on -- and curled up to sleep. Bane was still cursing himself, when, ten minutes later, the door quietly opened. Somehow Bane could tell, by the frame of the shadow, or by the tread, that his dad was checking up on them. Yeah, screw you, dad.
Bane had a hard time looking his dad in the eye at breakfast the next morning. "You kids alright last night?" Bane's dad lounged against the counter by the coffee pot with a smirk on his face.
"Why, what dy'a mean." Bane tried not to sound defensive as he poured himself a drink.
"Well, thought we had ghostly visitors or somethin', I heard some pretty strange noises last night."
"That's weird," Bane said, loudly, "I didn't hear anything, did you?" He looked at Davide for the first time that morning. They caught each others' gaze and startled each other. Davide shook his head and gave his breakfast a hard stare. "Really weird," Bane said, shrugging at his dad.
"Thing is, Haru, I thought I heard--" Bane heard his mom's voice from upstairs, and before he could make out what she was saying, his dad dashed away yelling, "Babe, it was an accident!"
Bane stared after him, and then he looked at Davide. Davide was covering his mouth with one hand, shoulders twitching in a silent chuckle. "Dammit, laugh properly!" Bane said, snickering himself.