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“You’re bleeding.”
The dry, matter of fact tone was so incongruous to the content of the statement, that North just blinked his eyes, not reacting to the comment. When he drove to York’s to pick the brunette up for their date, he had not expected those words to be the first thing out of the usually blunt man’s mouth.
To be fair, opening the door to the tall blond, York had not been expecting those words to be his greeting. His one silver-grey eye tracked a slow trickle of blood as it eased from beneath a butterfly bandage taped to the bridge of the other man’s slightly crooked nose. Had York not known that North’s nose had been broken long before tonight, the younger man would have assumed that the slight bend in the appendage was caused by whatever had happened earlier. York huffed his hair out of his one good eye as he reached a hand out to grasp the silently stunned blonde.
North allowed himself to be dragged through York’s apartment to the kitchen (having been there before, he knew this was their destination). The shorter man deposited him by the sink before letting him go to pull a couple sheets of paper towel off the roll.
The same, almost nonchalant tone of voice spoke over the sound of the tap water being run over the now wadded paper towel. “As much as I love seeing you in red - and it does give me sexy chills when you wear that red sweater that pulls tight over your chest - it would be a shame to let this nice blue shirt of yours be ruined by the blood dripping from your bandage. Especially when this colour matches your eyes so well.”
This said, York began to efficiently dab at the trail of bright red liquid marring North’s perfect, fair complexion. One large hand came up to rest surprisingly gently along the opposite cheek, occasionally apply pressure to tilt the blond’s head this way or that. The brunette had his one good eye trained intently on the man in front of him, and while he stood close enough that their broad chests brushed slightly at their deep breaths, he made no real attempts at flirtation or any overtly sexual gestures or comments.
North was so caught up in the genuine sincerity of York’s care, that he remained silent while the other man worked. He allowed his eyes to travel through the bronze and chestnut streaks of York’s silky hair, down to stare searchingly into his one good eye, over to and along the white scar that seared across the man’s other eye and cheek - and North had never felt that the mark in any way detracted from York’s rakish good looks - to finally rest on the man’s wide, light pink mouth, the lips currently pursed slightly in concentration.
It hit North, at this moment, that York was far from the cheesy and insincere flirt he had originally thought him to be. True, their first meeting at Carolina’s party had left that impression on the blond. Even though that impression had changed throughout the rest of party as the brunette kept coming back to talk to him, and despite all the times they had hung out as friends and slowly realised they wanted more from each other, North had always been a little skeptical. Last Friday, after skipping out of the bar and going back to York’s place to make out over a movie, North had thought he knew what he was getting into with York. It wasn’t until now, when the brunette was being so selflessly tender, that North finally believed the younger man’s declaration from that night (“I’m in, North. This. Us. I am serious about it. I am all in.”).
North slowly reached up and grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the wet and bloody paper towel. He lowered it to their sides, but he allowed the other hand to remain where it was, cradling his cheek. He saw one dark brow arch questioningly at his movement, but North didn’t explain. Instead he leaned forward and captured York’s mouth in a tender kiss. He swept his tongue along the seam of the other man’s lips until he was admitted entry. Then he proceeded to slowly map the recesses of the brunette’s mouth with thorough finesse. He licked delicately along the slick wetness he found behind York’s lips, and stroked slow, intricate designs and patterns with the tip of his tongue. When he pulled back from the slow heat of the kiss, he let his forehead lean forward to rest against the other man’s.
“Holy fuck!” York gasped, and his voice was a near reverent whisper. “Not that I’m complaining - like, at all - but what was that for?”
North pulled back, a slight smirk turning up the corner of his lips. He gave a shrug and there was a smug light in his blue eyes that York couldn’t reason. He made his way to the bathroom, as though the quiet moment at the kitchen sink had never happened, talking over his shoulder to a puzzled York the entire time. “Had a rugby game this afternoon. Took an elbow to the nose near the end. Thought the bleeding had stopped. Guess it hadn’t yet, but I think it’s good now. We still good for the movie?”
“Seriously?! The movie?! What the hell. How hard did you get hit? Wait… What are the symptoms of a concussion? Do you have a concussion? Do I need to get you to the hospital? Are you seeing doubles? Do you need to cancel our date so you can go home and sleep? Are you even allowed to sleep if you maybe have a concussion? Should I be finding ways to make sure you don’t sleep for twelve hours?” York was rambling unintelligibly while North stared at him in amusement. It wasn’t until his last question, and the blond’s resulting smirk and dark chuckle, that York finally caught up with what his mouth was saying. Then he found a smirk of his own that lit enticingly in his one silver eye. “Because, I’m pretty sure I can find a number of ways to keep you awake for a good long while, if you know what I mean.”
North couldn’t help but roll his eyes at York’s outrageously waggling eyebrows and suggestive comment. Sincere and committed the brunette might be in their relationship, but serious and mature he was not. It didn’t really matter though, North liked York for his frequently sexual overtures and less than subtle subtext. The cocksure flirt was just one aspect of York’s personality. And now North had witnessed another, more protective and tending side to this man. More than ever, he was looking forward to figuring out what other aspects York had to him.