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Yet another serene night in the neighborhood of these two, who were wide awake during the dead of night.
It was around 10PM as James was lying on the living room couch, resting his eyes while listening to distant footsteps around him and the TV, probably from Brian.
He's done for the day, not having a single worry in his head, although he's pretty bored for not being able to smoke or drink.
"Brian..." He mumbled, an annoyed expression on his face revealing some sort of discomfort and tiredness. "Hmm..." Is said out loud as he rests his head on the couch's backrest, letting his dreadlocks cover the right side of his face.
Brian, who seemed to not be paying much attention to James, was spending his time in the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge and making some loud glass-clicking sounds.
It was hard for James to deal with the fact that he couldn't make much physical effort due to the recent surgery he had, and the fact that he was also in the hands of the most irresponsible guy in the band.
With being prohibited from doing what he liked the most, he felt like a grounded kid again.
And so, that's how it was for around a week, Brian would frequently tease him by showing the joy of doing everything he couldn't do, and James hated him for it.
In a couple of minutes, Brian quickly slammed the fridge door and went back to the living room with two beers in his hands, walking toward the brown couch and James."Something good on TV?" He asked, taking a can opener from his pocket, and popping the bottle open. James opened his eyes again, staring at Brian with tired brown eyes.
Taking the remote from the coffee table, Brian switched channels until he came across Adult Swim, his eyes widened.
"Oh, hell yeah! You wanna watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force? It's so fuckin' good." He gave a glance at James before sipping the cold beer and leaning against the backrest.
James quickly took a deep breath, letting out a little faint grunt with the pain in his chest. Placing his legs on top of Brian's lap, he turned to lie on his side, facing the TV.
"Is that the episode where aliens ruin Carl's car by scratching it with a screwdriver?" He managed to ask something, staring at the screen. Brian wiped his wet hand on his t-shirt before placing it on James' legs, caressing his skin.
"I think so." He simply said, turning his head to look down at James while he wasn't looking at Brian back, letting out a chuckle. "I laughed so much at that part."
Despite acting like a dork while being the caretaker of James, Brian wondered a lot about James' mood recently. Messing around with him was pure fun, some kind of hobby that both loved to do with each other.
But James hasn't been like that recently, and Brian knows that it's not due to the surgery. It had been a week already.
James would have already recovered from it if that's the reason... So what's going on? We've been doing the same stuff we always have, why is he like that?
Questioning it in his empty head made him forget about the show playing in front of them, his right hand gripping the beer bottle firmly as he took a deep breath.
"Hey, James." He suddenly spoke, his lips parted as he stared at the coffee table in front of them, his hand still on James' legs, not caressing them anymore.
The other man snapped his eyes open, not turning his head while waiting for whatever Brian would say this time. Instead, he just let out a quiet yawn.
"What's up with you?" That was what Brian decided to ask first, glancing at James before taking a swing of beer again. "Like, you've been... acting different these days."
The sudden question made James curious, but he didn’t want to give his attention to Brian yet, so he half-closed his eyes to pretend his sleepiness was making it hard to listen to Brian.
"Listen, I just wanna know if it's because of me. Is it? You can tell me, dude." Brian quickly said, raising his eyebrow while waiting for some sort of reply from James.
And so, what he got was a sigh of annoyance and a calm murmur from the other, "No, man." He moved his legs off Brian's lap, slowly moving to lie on his back again. "It's not..."
Of course, Brian didn't take James' words, it was obvious that he was somewhat annoyed with him. He took a last swing before putting the empty bottle on the floor, turning his body to look directly at James' face.
"You need to tell me. I'm not gonna guess what's going on in your mind." He said, staring at the slightly annoyed expression forming on the other's face. "I'm not trying to be mean, just tell me."
James clicked his tongue, "No, dude! For God's sake!" He said, his voice angry but still calm towards Brian.
"No what, James? Just tell me already." Brian replied with his eyebrows furrowed. The way both were talking to each other made Brian afraid of having a relevant fight between them, again.
James then rubbed his temples with his index and middle fingers, taking a deep breath before letting it all out in a single sentence.
"That's not what I expected. You know how I am now, and you're still acting the same way as before, dude." He crossed his arms, letting his head fall back on the couch's armrest.
"What are you talking about? What were you expecting?" The reply made him even more confused, his hazel eyes trying to make eye contact with James.
"..." James stayed silent, thinking about the best way to get it all out. He was embarrassed by having to say it out loud, but it was best if he just did it. "I was expecting you to act differently as I'm healing. Not like the dork you always are."
Now, that simpler reply made Brian the one silent. He raised both his eyebrows before asking with a serious voice. "Wait, you just wanted to... For me to be affectionate with you?"
The way James covered his mouth with his hand after Brian's question made him smile, and then move to sit closer to James. "That's it, isn't it? You wanna be pampered, by me?"
What a pain in the ass Brian was. The way he would tease James about things like that just to make him embarrassed about it only encouraged Brian to continue doing it.
"Fuck you..." James whispered through his hand, trying his best to keep a straight face and look at Brian again. "You already ruine-"
"You could have just told me," Brian interrupted, softening his voice as he stared at James in a teasing, caring manner, touching the other's knee. "I would never guess." He added and chuckled.
James remained silent, feeling the touch of Brian's hand on his knee, not bothering about speaking after having said everything directly. He stayed like that, watching Brian's hand precisely, not looking at his eyes.
The silence helped Brian have time to think of something to say, his mind thinking about the stupid reason for their fight. Soon, he slid his hand down James' left thigh, reaching his hip.
"My God, James..." He chuckled, shaking his head while rubbing his thumb on the hip bone under it. "What did you think I was going to do? Make fun of you?"
James glanced away, then looked directly at Brian's face. "That's exactly what's happening right now, you idiot." He said, keeping his voice soft while feeling the soft touch on his skin, not minding it, not a single bit.
Then, both stayed quiet, listening to the TV noises and each other's breathing. Brian could notice the annoyed expression on James' face slowly disappearing, giving him a wonderful idea.
"You see," He clears his throat to speak softly, sliding his hand from James' hip to his left side, caressing the brown skin under his shirt with his thumb. "You get irritated by the smallest things."
Having a little smile on his lips while watching the man under him, who was pretending to not care about his words, Brian kept going on.
"That's not a reason for me to stop loving you, is it?" His hazel eyes meet the other's chocolate ones, feeling the softness of his skin as he finally reaches the scar on his chest, gently brushing his thumb against it.
"And I shouldn't be an asshole while you heal, I know... He kept a serious, relaxed face, lifting James' shirt to expose his chest. "Look at what I missed..." He smiled, leaning against the top surgery scars.
James' lips were trembling slightly as he watched the scene between both guys with wide eyes, feeling Brian's hot breath against his sensitive chest quickly getting his brown eyes moist.
Both would always be the goofy ones in the band. Usually acting like dorks when together, that's what their bond was about. But he couldn't deny that Brian stepping out of character would always make him act like a mess.
He quickly moved to cover his face and wet eyes with his hands, his head falling back on the couch armrest while feeling Brian's touch on his chest.
God, right now he couldn't help but notice how much he missed Brian's serious, caring side.
And the affectionate touch didn't stop, Brian was grinning brightly, chuckling. "What the fuck? C'mon, dude." He put his feet on the couch, then moved between James' legs, closely glancing at the tears rolling down his red cheeks with a confused smile.
"Are you really crying over this?" He chuckled and brought his other hand to the other's right scar, placing a few kisses on his skin. "You're adorable, Munk... I could say I'm proud of you at this point."
While Brian kept kissing and caressing him, James slowly wiped the tears from his eyes, sniffing and taking a deep breath so he could at least look at the man in front of him in silence.
Silence. Pure silence for a few minutes as James recovers from crying, staring at Brian's face with an almost straight face, the hotness and red hue in his cheeks exposing his true reaction after Brian's sudden behavior.
"I can't stand you. Seriously..." He then sighs, half-closing his eyes and watching the hand caressing the scars on his chest, slowly falling into Brian's soothing trap.
"I know," Brian replied, closing his hazel eyes and resting his chin on James' belly, taking advantage of the moment of heat exchange between their bodies. "I'm sorry. I'm a dickhead."
"Yep." James quickly agreed, giving the other a little smile before moving his hand to ruffle the blonde braids on his chest, casually caressing Brian's cheeks and stub nose in the process. "At least you know about it."
Brian sighed and placed another kiss next to James' belly button, his stub nose poking the brown skin gently. "I'll smoke a fat blunt with you tomorrow... as an apology.
"Wow, how forced," James replied, wrapping his legs around Brian's sides, keeping him to himself only. "Let's just sit outside and smoke while watching people around us. Just like old people do." He chuckled.
"James, you won't die if you make radical movements like the ones you do daily, dude..." Brian mumbles, letting out a loud yawn right next to James' belly button again. "Okay, fuck it, let's do it tomorrow."
"Yeah! Haha!" James chuckled, ruffling Brian's braids quickly before stopping. "Can't believe you agreed to it..."
For a while, both kept caressing each other in silence, casually yawning but not giving in to sleep for wanting each other's company. James' seems happy with Brian again, grateful for his comprehension after all the conflict caused by a stupid reason like that.
"We'll sleep on the couch again, how nice," James mumbles sarcastically, staring down at the sleepy man lying on him. He grunts quietly while lifting his upper body and getting his head closer enough to Brian's head, placing a quick kiss on his forehead before whispering:
"Goodnight, dickhead."