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Fingertips brushed against calloused fingertips, following invisible lines faintly against bones, stopping with care when they reached the knuckles. He wasn’t sure what he liked so much about Jake’s hands, but they were perfect. The slight curvature of his fingers, the way his nails were uneven and just a little dirty... Dirk brushed his fingers between the other male’s knuckles, relishing in the feel of the soft skin that was hidden there--between his knuckles, on his sides, and his cheeks...his neck. These were the softest parts of Jake English, and the parts that Dirk knew the best.
“If I never knew you...if I never felt this love. I would have no inkling of how precious life can be.”
His voice was soft enough that it could only barely be heard in the stillness of the room, low enough that he could feel himself digging into the deeper registers of his vocal range. Singing in a whisper made his pitch imperfect but he didn’t care. It wasn’t like anyone was listening--at least, not anyone who cared about his pitch. He could feel his voice reverberating through his own chest, and he knew that Jake could feel it in his back, where their skin was pressed so closely together. The gentle rise and fall of the other’s sides said that he was asleep...no, only almost asleep. Not that it made much of a difference--he was silent, asleep or not.
“ If I never held you, I would never have a clue... how at last I'd find in you, the missing part of me.”
He stopped for a second, stopped singing and pressed forward a little bit more, as if he was trying to get close enough to merge into one being. He released Jake’s hand, propping himself up enough to drape around the other’s shoulders, pressing his lips against that soft neck, finding the pulse and just resting there. The most beautiful beat that had ever been played, the sound of Jake English’s blood moving through his veins. Dirk took in the smell of him, the lingering traces of sweat that somehow managed to smell so sweet and distinct. The tip of his nose bumped Jake’s jawline and he opened his mouth again, breathing out the next line of the song as though it mattered.
“In this world so full of fear, full of rage and lies. I can see the truth so clear... In your eyes... so dry your eyes.”
His own breath came back at him as it hit Jake’s skin, and he felt the dark haired boy give a slight shiver before shifting himself against Dirk as if to get more comfortable. As if there were such a thing as more comfortable in this hold--there wasn’t. They fit together in a way that Dirk could never explain, and no matter which way one or the other moved, it always felt as though some higher power had designed them as puzzle pieces with the implicit intention of them being in each other’s arms.
“And I'm so grateful to you, I'd have lived my whole life through...”
A leg moved between his own, tangling and hooking and twining to bring them just a little bit closer as he continued his song. Every centimeter counted, when it came to distance closed between their two bodies. He could feel Jake’s heartbeat in his own chest now, and he closed his lips over the precious skin of his neck to leave a wet mark, gently leaving a trail of kisses from jawline, to shoulder, and back up again. Dirk moved up to the other’s earlobe, leaving kisses in his hair and breathing gently against sensitive skin. But then, slowly, the body in his arms shifted again, more drastically this time. Jake turned, pressing his face against the Strider’s chest, fingertips dragging lightly over the skin of his shoulder as if he were looking for a shirt to hold onto. But there were no shirts in this bed tonight, nor any other clothing to grasp, and so instead Dirk moved his hand to resume the hold they’d had previously, holding onto Jake in a way that was both light and possessive.
“...lost forever...”
That face against his chest turned upward, and for the last lingering moment of that note, their eyes met. Dirk was lost, completely lost and yet entirely where he wanted to be. Nothing had ever been more familiar, more comfortable, more home. He moved a hand to brush his fingertips along Jake’s cheekbones, across the strong line of his nose. He wanted more than anything to push their lips together, to twine their tongues and taste Jake’s warmth. But he saw the sleep in the other’s eyes, and he knew that the comfort and heat offered by his own presence was enough that soon the other would flicker out of consciousness. Dirk was alright with that. There was nothing he enjoyed more than the pleasure of watching Jake English fall asleep.
And it didn’t take long for those beautiful green eyes to disappear behind thick eyelashes, for that beautiful mouth to hang just slightly open, upper teeth resting behind the line of his lower lip. Jake’s grip on Dirk’s imaginary shirt let up, and his breathing became somehow even more peaceful than it had already been.
If this asshole got any more attractive, he’d be an angel.
“...if I never...knew you.”