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It surprises Jay when Tim tells him he has no idea how to kiss.
It’s not something that they just– /talked/ about or anything. Them, talking, communicating? That’s a laugh. No, it came up when Jay rolled over to face Tim in bed, placed a hand on his cheek, and leaned in hopefully, pulse pounding at the back of his skull.
When he got nothing in response, he became concerned that perhaps he was going too fast, that they weren’t like that, like Jay had maybe hoped they were.
“I don’t know how,” Tim says huffily when Jay persists in his badgering. He keeps pawing at him, nerves showing in every tense muscle and fast blink. He has to know why he won’t kiss him, or he’ll forever assume it’s for the worst reasons possible.
Playing witness to Jay’s anxiety proves to be too much for Tim; he turns away and stares at the wall instead.
“It’s– it’s not like anyone was exactly dying to put their mouth on mine at the hospital, Jay,” he explains somewhat miserably. Jay inches in, chest pressing against Tim’s back. He lifts a tentative hand, running it through Tim’s mussed hair in a way that he hopes comes across as comforting.
“Well, the thing is, kissing isn’t really something you learn,” Jay says, gently headbutting at the nape of Tim’s neck when the man lets out a doubtful noise. “It’s true, it just happens.”
“Maybe it comes naturally to you,” Tim replies, giving a careless shrug. He reaches at the blankets and tries to tug them up over his body. “But I’m pretty much convinced I’ll fuck it up somehow. Like, mouths can do a ton of gross things, and I bet I’d do them all by accident.”
Jay sighs loudly through his nose. If he doesn’t prove Tim wrong now, then he’ll likely never let Jay kiss him again.
In a bout of bravery that startles even Jay himself, he shifts to sit up and slings his leg over Tim so that he can straddle him. The man beneath him huffs again and moves to look up at Jay with suspicious eyes.
“…I thought we discussed I’m not really into sexual stuff,” he says, though it sounds more like a warning. Jay gives him an innocent smile and leans down, ignoring the nervous voice in his brain screaming that he’s the most awkward mess in the world and should stop before he says something stupid.
“Kissing doesn’t have to be sexual. Tell me to stop if you need me to, though.”
“What?–”
Jay’s face burns with an embarrassed, if delighted, blush– his lips tingle from the feeling of someone else’s mouth against his. It’s been years, and Alex’s name flashes through his mind, but he brushes it off, more interested in the warm lips gradually returning the pressure of his kiss.
For as much as Tim thinks he’s going to fuck up, he sure seems into this. In fact, it’s him who opens his mouth first, before Jay tries to give his lower lip a soft lick for permission.
“Y'sure?” Jay breathes out against him, and Tim makes a little humming noise that sounds like an ‘mhm’ but he’s not so sure. Still, he lets himself taste, and it’s– yeah, it’s not the best taste, Jay never liked the taste of cigarettes. But it’s Tim, so he thinks he could learn to enjoy it.
It’s the biting that seems to get Tim. It’s like he never even considered biting could be a part of kissing. He gasps against Jay when he latches onto his lip and tugs a little.
Then, he pulls Jay in by the back of the head and bites harder than he did, and Jay actually yelps– not out of pain but in surprise. That’s where they part, and Tim looks up at him with wide eyes.
It’s an enjoyable face. Jay’ll have to get him to make it more often.
“…I think I get the idea but I want to put it into practice,” Tim says breathlessly.
Jay actually laughs to himself, and nods, coming back down on his elbows and taking the other man’s face in his hands.
“Something we can both agree on. Cool.”