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They needed this, Jayce and Viktor kept telling themselves.
They needed a little vacation as friends.
Do a little something to take the edge off as friends.
So of course they booked a hotel room in a little seaside town for two weeks as friends.
Well, it was Viktor who booked the room…
“Without talking to me about it?”
“Look, I got an excellent price.” Viktor leaned back into the couch at the coffee shop they were at. “And, it’s a nice room to boot.” He put the laptop down on the coffee table so Jayce could get a better look at the pictures on the hotel’s website. “Look!”
Jayce crouched over himself, humming and nodding as Viktor swiped through images.
“There’s a kitchenette, a balcony, an accessible shower,” Viktor beamed.
“Wait–” Jayce pointed at a picture of a walkway leading from the hotel to the beach, “–it’s on the water?”
“Near the pier, too, and the main street in town,” Viktor sounded satisfied with himself. “Fancy, huh?”
“Very fancy, especially for you,” Jayce teased.
“Fuck you.” Viktor slammed the laptop shut.
“What?” Jayce sighed. “I was…I’m sorry.”
Viktor curled away from Jayce. “It’s fine, Jayce. Really.”
🌹
They took Jayce’s crossover, more space to pack Viktor’s wheelchair, his rollator, his other mobility aids; Viktor wanted to be prepared for whatever his needs would be throughout the trip.
“I’m such a burden,” Viktor sighed as Jayce plopped their suitcases into the trunk.
“You’re being proactive.” Jayce closed the trunk. “And you’re not a burden.”
Viktor hoped so.
🌹
It was a quiet two-hour drive along the coast, podcasts and road noise aside.
They didn’t talk for most of the ride.
Didn’t need to.
🌹
The room was homey in the way seaside hotel rooms are homey, not a shade of gray or beige in sight.
“Butter yellow walls,” Viktor noted, licking his lips. “They were blue in the pictures.”
Jayce turned to him, watched the way Viktor’s tongue lingered at the dip of his cupid’s bow before retreating, stared a little too long at how the afternoon light struck his wetted lips, how they glistened.
“You—” Jayce shook his head, snapped himself out of the trace he put himself under. “—you picked good.”
“I know.” Viktor gulped, Adam’s Apple bobbing, Jayce staring at his Adam’s Apple bobbing. “So, left or right?”
“Pardon?” Jayce cleared his throat.
“Which bed are you taking: left or right?”
Jayce shrugged, b-lined for the bed closest to him.
He chose right.
🌹
The two were seated on Jayce’s bed, looking over the room service menu. Everything looked good to Viktor – the salmon, the bolognese, the cheeseburger, the cheesecake–
“Viktor, we’re not ordering all that.”
“But I’m hungry,” Viktor said. “Haven’t eaten all day.”
“Well that’s your fault now, isn’t it?”
“We can share, you know.”
“It would still be way too much food,” Jayce chided, hand resting on the slight curve of his stomach. His comments were less out of concern and were more a projection. Jayce’s recent stress eating was starting to catch up to him, despite him being the only person to notice.
“We have a fridge, we can save what we don’t eat, problem solved!” Viktor eyed their kitchenette. “Look, if you’re concerned about costs–”
“Viktor, I’m not–”Jayce put the menu down, rubbed his temples “–you’re fucking ridiculous, you know that, right?”
“I’m aware.” Viktor playfully leaned into Jayce’s shoulder. “And I’m hungry. Think I’ll get the cheeseburger.”
“Cool–”
“Soup and salad, too.”
“I’m not gonna be responsible for your stomach ache later.” Jayce picked the menu back up, scanned it again. “Let’s see, I think I’ll get the…” he sighed, settling on what he figured was the ‘healthy’ option, despite it not being up Jayce’s alley one bit, “...chicken salad wrap…”
Viktor perked a brow. “And the cheesecake?”
“...and the cheesecake.”
Jayce called in the order.
🌹
Viktor was hungry alright. Tomato soup, a garden salad, burger with fries, two thirds of the slice of cheesecake, all eaten until the dishes were spotless. Jayce didn’t think Viktor could pack away that much food. And, based on the bloat doming under Viktor’s shirt, all that food barely even fit inside of him.
“Eeeuuugh.” Viktor palmed his hands into his stomach.
“You okay?” Jayce walked over to Viktor’s bed, sat at the edge of it.
“I’m fine.” Viktor adjusted himself, sitting upright in bed, groaning. “Just–” he snuck out a quiet burp, “–consequences.”
“Packed some pepto for those consequences.” Jayce stood from the bed, made his way to his suitcase. “Also brought a heating pad. If you’d like?”
“I’m fine, Jayce,” Viktor insisted.
🌹
Viktor eventually opted for the heating pad, his stomach cramps keeping him up.
“Better?” Jayce asked.
“Yeah.” Viktor pressed his fingers into his stomach over the heating pad. “Better.”
🌹
“You got the omelette?” Viktor took a bite of his waffle, a sip of black coffee. “Again?”
The hotel offered a complementary omelette bar alongside its (also complementary) breakfast. And Jayce ordered the same omelette he’d been ordering the last few days: egg whites, spinach, Monterey Jack cheese, served with avocado and an amalgamation of finely chopped veg masquerading as “salsa.”
“It’s fine.” Jayce forked off a bite with avocado and egg white.
“Jayce, you don’t like it,” Viktor said, taking a pause from eating, “said it tasted, quote 'the way depression feels.' End quote.”
“Well my doctor doesn’t like my LDL levels.” Jayce shoveled more of the omelette into mouth, more out of spite than genuine hunger.
“You know–” Viktor bit into his breakfast sausage, forked another syrup-drenched morsel of waffle, “—research shows people have better health outcomes when they eat foods they actually like —”
“Don’t lecture me!” Jayce shot up from his seat, probably drew too much attention to himself in the process. “Um…” Jayce collapsed in on himself, feeling eyes on him. “Shit, I…I’m…I’m going back to the room.”
“Jayce?” Viktor watched as Jayce turned away, leaving the dining area.
“Lost my appetite.” Was what he managed before disappearing into the hall.
🌹
Jayce looked at himself in the mirror wearing only his boxers. Even with all his attempts to be “healthy” during the trip — eating “well,” hitting up the hotel’s gym, walking around town, swimming at the beach — his stomach fat didn’t seem to budge. If anything, his clothes were starting to fit a little tighter compared to the start of the trip, his shirts snug at his arms and abdomen, shorts pinching into his hips.
And yet, Jayce didn’t…not? Hate it?
Knock knock
“I need to pee,” Viktor said through the door.
Jayce left the bathroom, still only in his boxers, then collapsed into his bed, took a nap.
If only Jayce’d clocked Viktor ogling his soft stomach, the way his chest and legs jiggled ever so slightly when he walked…
🌹
Viktor may or may not have "taken care of himself" after seeing how Jayce’s changing body made him feel, and made sure not to wake up his friend in the process.
Because that’s what friends do, right?
🌹
There was an amusement park on the pier, damn Ferris Wheel staring them down no matter where they went in town over the last week. But Jayce and Viktor felt it too childish, too tourist-trappy to warrant a visit to said amusement park.
Until…
“There’s supposed to be a good seafood spot on the pier,” Jayce mentioned.
“By the theme park?”
“By the theme park.”
Well, if they were already going to dine nearby, why not give the park a visit too?
🌹
The restaurant was fifty years old and chock full of divey charm. Good signs.
They walked up to the counter, ordered. Viktor got the moules-frites with a glass of sauvignon blanc, Jayce the cioppino – no bread – and a diet soda, took their order number on a stick, found a table outside next to a heating lamp
“You said you wanted to try the house lager,” Viktor said into his wine glass.
“Changed my mind,” Jayce sighed, playing with the straw in his drink. “I’m allowed to change my mind, yeah? Besides—” he looked over his shoulder at the amusement park behind him, “—beer and rollercoasters, they…well, me and rollercoasters…” his voice trailed off.
“You can stand at the end of the ride with the giant teddy bear you’re gonna win for me. That would be a nice sight to exit to,” Viktor teased. Or was he flirting?
Jayce shifted in his seat, took a sip of the diet soda (god, he fucking hated the aftertaste of diet soda, why the fuck did he order this again? Oh yeah, for his so-called “health”).
“But I—” Jayce wanted to word this carefully, “—I wanna do things together, you know? As friends…obviously.”
Yeah, that came more romantic than Jayce intended. He took another long slurp of his soda.
“This whole trip has been us doing things together, as friends,” Viktor smiled. “Obviously.”
Okay, so Viktor wasn’t not flirting with Jayce?
“Here you go!” Their server came by to drop off their food, promptly left.
Viktor dug right into his meal, stabbing his fork through a bundle of sauce-soaked french fries, somehow managing to fit it all in his mouth. Jayce. Stared. At Viktor. Stuffing himself. With fries. Slurping mussels. From their shells. Between sips of wine. Jayce's own food didn’t exist, as long as he was watching Viktor eat.
“You keep this staring contest up, your soup’s going to get cold.”
Oh yeah, that’s right, the cioppino.
“Of course.” Jayce dipped a spoon into the warm, tomatoey broth, having second thoughts about ditching the bread the dish usually came with.
“I’m not going to finish all of this.” Viktor gestured at his fries. “They’re yours, if you want them.”
Jayce slipped another spoonful of cioppino into his mouth, got a couple shrimp in there, chewed, swallowed. “It’s fine, Viktor, really. Thank you, though.”
“You’re going to say ‘no’ to fries?” Viktor pressed. “Fries? In garlicky wine butter sauce, no less?”
Okay, that did sound pretty good. “Are they soggy?”
“A little.” Viktor took one of the crisper fries, stretched his arm across the table until his hand was mere inches from Jayce’s mouth. “But they’re still good, trust me”
Jayce looked at the fry in Viktor’s fingers and, thoughtlessly, encircled his mouth around it, getting a taste of Viktor’s fingers in the process. The fry was good, damn near perfect, no denying that. But sneaking in the taste of Viktor, the taste of salt and garlic and herbs and white wine and the dirt under his fingernails…
Friends ate out of each other’s hands from time to time. Totally normal friend behavior.
Obviously.
🌹
Jayce finished his soup, polished off the fries, ended up ordering the lager after all.
And Viktor ordered a post-dinner coffee. Felt cozy, right, even.
🌹
The amusement park was definitely a tourist trap, no way around it, but that didn’t dampen Jayce and Viktor’s fun (even if tickets cost an arm and a leg). Viktor waited in line for the roller coaster. Jayce played boardwalk games in the hopes of winning that giant teddy bear Viktor seemed to want (what a good friend Jayce was being!). Jayce didn’t win a bear, though, but he did win a stuffed axolotl the size of a house cat. And Viktor, eventually, did get on the rollercoaster.
“You know I was kidding, right?” Viktor beamed at the sight of Jayce waiting for him at the end of the ride with the axolotl.
“It’s not the bear but…yeah.” Jayce handed it to Viktor. “What are you gonna name it?”
Time stopped for a moment. The world was just Viktor and Jayce looking at each other with neon lights and flickers of golden evening sun in their eyes, smiles tugging at their lips.
“Rio.” Viktor said, looking at Jayce, not the stuffy now in his arms. “I’ll name her Rio.”
🌹
“I had an axolotl growing up.” Viktor held Rio close to his chest as he and Jayce’s gondola started reaching the crest of the Ferris Wheel. “Briefly.”
“It’s pronounced aːˈʃoːloːtɬ.”
“ash-oh-LOTE?”
“Close enough.”
They both chuckled, the gondola now stopped at the very top, looking over the town, the ocean, the whole basin bathed in the golden light of the setting sun.
Viktor smiled with a sigh, leaning into Jayce ever so slightly. “It’s a nice view from up here.”
“Yeah,” Jayce said, eyes only on Viktor, the way the sun haloed his hair, made his eyes glow like amber, the shadows it cast on his shirt buttons puckering along his belly. “It is.”
🌹
They got ice cream en route back to the hotel, stopping at a bench to eat it while watching the last remnants of sunlight dip below the ocean. That and–
“I knew I should have used the wheelchair today,” Viktor lamented into his cup with three ice cream scoops – one chocolate, one pistachio, one cherry.
“I mean, push comes to shove, I can carry you back–”
“Please, don’t do that.” Viktor dug at the cherry ice cream, let the spoon linger on his tongue for a while.
“Sorry.” Jayce took a bite into his vanilla ice cream in a kid’s cone. He wanted the rocky road in the waffle cup but decided against it; Jayce was good at that, talking himself out of things he wanted. He turned, looked at Viktor too long, too longingly, hoping his friend wouldn’t notice. But Jayce did notice something, a little splotch of ice cream at the corner of Viktor’s mouth, just below his mole. God, Jayce wanted to kiss that bit of ice cream off of Viktor. Wanted to kiss the mole right above it, too.
That was normal, thinking about kissing your friend and doing jack shit about it.
“You got a little—” Jayce pointed to the offending smudge of ice cream, “—corner, yeah, under your mole. That’s it.”
Viktor wiped the ice cream with his thumb, his eyes on Jayce the whole time.
“Thanks,” Viktor said coldly, almost disappointed.
🌹
Jayce and Viktor returned to the room not long after, wound down, got ready for bed, turned off the lights.
Both thought of pressing their beds together, snuggling through the night.
Both did nothing.
🌹
They didn’t eat ice cream the rest of the trip.
🌹
“FUCK!”
Jayce returned from the hotel’s gym to find Viktor cursing to get his trousers up, only to collapse into his bed when they got caught below his ass.
“These fit fine a few days ago,” Viktor grumbled. “Now–” Viktor gestured at the state he was in; could he make it any more obvious? “–when’s our reservation again?”
That’s right. The reservation. At the Italian spot on the main street. That reservation was a bitch to get, too.
“Two hours,” Jayce said. “Plenty of time to get you a new pair of pants.”
Oh, Viktor did not like the sound of that, curling in on himself like a pillbug at the suggestion.
“Viktor, I—” god, Jayce was the fucking master of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, wasn’t he? “—can I sit on the bed with you?”
Viktor shrugged out a weak “sure.” Jayce sat with him, quiet and content. He wasn’t going to comment on how much Viktor had been eating during their vacation. He also wasn’t going to comment on how adorable Viktor looked right now, pouty-faced and red-eyed, his tummy peeping through the bottom of his undershirt, pouring over his briefs, thighs tensing at the seams of his trousers.
“I know I’ve put on weight during our vacation. I’m not a fool,” Viktor huffed out a laugh, rolled out of the fetal position, snuggling up against Jayce’s thigh.
“I can get those off you?” Jayce pointed at Viktor’s trousers. “They don’t look comfortable.”
Viktor nodded, and Jayce made quick work of getting Viktor out of his too tight trousers.
“I…” Viktor bit his lip, anxious. “Please don’t think this is a...strange request.”
“Viktor, I just took off your pants. Platonically, of course.”
“That’s not what I’m…” Viktor took a breath in, breathed out. “...I want you to…hold me?”
Jayce perked a brow, didn’t move for a moment, but eventually obliged his friend, wrapped his arms Viktor, spooned him.
“Thank you,” Viktor said. “I’ve…it’s funny. I’ve…” Alright, deep breath, now. “...I’ve wanted this for a long time.”
“Wanted what?” Jayce pulled Viktor in closer to him.
“You.” Viktor took Jayce’s hand from his chest, moved it so it would cup his belly. “andhavingatummyfeelsgoodandilikeyourtummytoopleasedontthinkthatsweird.”
Jayce laughed, gave Viktor’s belly a playful squeeze. “Your tummy’s very cute.”
“Oh!” Viktor squeaked. “Erm…thank you.”
“I love—” Jayce bit his lip, releasing it with a flick and a pop, “—I love it on you.”
Viktor looked back at Jayce, nudged him, “Talk to me.”
Jayce sighed, didn’t talk for a long while, opting to hold Viktor like the precious thing he was.
“I don’t know how I feel about my body,” Jayce finally said. “But I know how I feel about you.”
Viktor shifted, his chest now flush with Jayce’s. “Take your time.”
Jayce did take his time, pressed his forehead against Viktor’s, breathed him in and out.
“I love you,” Jayce whispered into Viktor’s hair. “You’re my best friend and I love you and that scares me.”
“I love you, too.” Viktor cupped Jayce’s jaw in his hands.
“For real?”
“Of course not–”
“Viktor!”
“I kid.” Viktor patted Jayce’s cheek. “I love you, Jayce. And it scares me, too.”
They looked at each other, lamp light and fading evening sun flickering in their eyes, smiles tugging at their lips.
“Wanna be scared together?” Jayce offered.
Viktor laughed. “I’d like that.”
🌹
They had to move some furniture to make it happen, but Jayce and Viktor finally got around to pushing their beds together. Well, it was Jayce moving the furniture around. Viktor was there for moral support.
They blew off their reservation (no surprise there), opting for room service. They ordered all the foods that tickled their fancy – the salmon, the bolognese, the beet salad, the hamburger pizza, oh, and the cheesecake –
“Actually, I want to try the carrot cake.”
“Viktor, we can get both.”
Jayce snuck out to the crossover to get his emergency picnic blanket, spread it out over the conjoined beds, and placed the food overtop.
They didn’t even finish half of what they ordered, but they did get close (Jayce ate more in that sitting than he had in a long while). And what they didn’t finish, they put in the fridge.
“We should do this more often,” Jayce sighed, patting his bloated belly.
“Do what?” Viktor rubbed Jayce’s belly in earnest. “Vacations or stuffing ourselves silly?”
“Little column A–” Jayce pulled Viktor in closer, started kissing him…more than kissing him, “–little column B.”
Viktor snaked his hand under the waistband of Jayce’s boxers.
“Let’s do both.”
🌹
They needed this, Jayce and Viktor kept telling themselves.
They needed a little vacation together.
Do a little something to take the edge off together.
They’d been working so hard, so they decided to do what they’ve been doing the last seven years now: visiting that little seaside town together. Even booked a room at the same hotel.
Well, Jayce was in the process of booking the room…
“So they have the king-size bed with balcony rooms available,” Jayce said from their living room sofa, laptop resting on his ample thigh, “king-sized bed corner rooms, king-sized bed with ocean view–”
“What about king-size with an accessible shower or tub?” Viktor asked, cup of tea in hand as he settled next to Jayce, soft belly pooling into his lap.
Jayce sighed. “All booked.”
“Dammit.” Viktor tsked.
“Or–” Jayce did some click-clacking around on his laptop, “–there is a room with an accessible tub available.”
“But?”
“It’s a room with two queens.”
“Honey, every room we enter is a room with two queens,” Viktor chuckled into his tea.
Jayce laughed, waited for it to settle before talking again. “We can always push the beds together, like old times.” Jayce lowered his laptop screen, turned to face Viktor. “And, it’ll cost less than getting a room with a king bed, accessible bathroom or not.”
Viktor weighed the options.
“We’ll wear our backs out if we push the beds together. It’ll take half the trip just to recover.” Viktor wasn’t wrong there. “But, I am a sentimental man.”
“Good thing you married a sentimental guy.” Jayce gave Viktor a little peck on the cheek. “Two queens, then?”
“Two queens.”
🌹
“Oh, you did get a good price on the room.”
“Of course! I learned from the best.”