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Joseph had never been to a gay club before.
Although, technically, he still hadn’t, because, technically, Air Supplena Club wasn’t a gay club, despite its reputation as such. But those were technicalities, and Joseph only liked technicalities when they were of use to him. Right now, it was much more convenient to pretend it was a gay club. That way he had an excuse to complain to Smokey.
Smokey, of course, was having none of it, saying that this was a club just like any other―one that happened to have his favorite DJ playing no less―even if it did gather a… certain kind of clientele. On a normal night Joseph would’ve agreed, but today was Valentine’s day and Valentine’s days―in Joseph’s humble opinion―were a load of bullcrap. Bullcrap he didn’t want to participate in. And as it that wasn’t bad enough on its own, his day had been really shitty and he was really in the mood to whine, so whine he did. He even tried to make a point about it being difficult to find a Valentine’s date, despite definitely not being interested in finding one, to which Smokey simply said: “Well, you can always find yourself a cute bisexual.”
That clearly marked the end of that conversation, especially when Smokey turned on his heel and promptly walked inside, leaving Joseph to trail in behind him, grumbling under his breath.
Fine, he was going to go in, but he certainly couldn’t see his mood getting any better.
His mood got considerably better. The drinks were reasonably priced, the music was great and the DJ was pretty epic, and he managed to score a few dances with a couple of cute girls. Joseph was pretty sure that’s what they were. A couple. Not that he minded; it was fun to just dance occasionally and the girls did seem to enjoy themselves as well.
He was having the time of his life, honestly. At first.
Joseph had been sitting at the bar after a long while of dancing, minding his own business and nursing his third beer when someone caught his eye. A man, probably around his age, leaning against a wall, just standing and watching. His still figure created a stark contrast to the dancing mass of people in front of him, and Joseph couldn’t help his gaze being drawn to him. Something about the man drew him in, intrigued him, felt almost familiar, though he couldn’t put his finger on what, exactly.
Well, part of it was the two feathered accessories attached to his blond hair, which in Joseph’s opinion were a bit weird, but hey, what did he know about fashion? The guy certainly looked like he knew a thing or two, with his well-coordinated outfit and light pink silk scarf wrapped loosely around his neck. He looked like he made an effort to stay up to date with the latest trends.
Joseph didn’t usually care for people like that; they were often much too shallow for his tastes. He wondered if this guy was like that too. He hoped not, for whatever reason.
Without warning the stranger blinked and looked up.
Shit, Joseph thought as their gazes met and held. Having been caught staring at a random stranger, his only choice was, naturally, to continue staring. Well, he could’ve looked away, sure, but that would be like admitting defeat, and Joseph wasn’t someone who admitted defeat. They held a small staring contest.
Then the man smirked.
Oh shit, Joseph thought and then the man was moving, weaving through the dancing people smoothly and without effort. He walked like a man with a singular goal: Joseph.
“Ciao, carino,” the man started in, uh, Italian, sliding next to Joseph by the bar, flashing him a charming smile. And it was charming. Now that Joseph could actually see the man’s face properly, he had to admit he was very pretty. Beautiful, even. Bright green eyes with long lashes, good jawline, full lips. Joseph tried not to focus on that last part though, instead noting the darker splotches of skin on the man’s cheekbones. Birthmarks. Probably.
“Uh, hi,” Joseph said belatedly as the man raised an eyebrow. He seemed amused at Joseph’s lack of finesse, which annoyed him a bit. He was a man with plenty of finesse, he’d just been caught off guard!
“Enjoying your night?” the man asked, leaning juuuuust a bit closer to Joseph than was strictly necessary for him to be heard over the music. Joseph tapped the side of his bottle, considering.
“It’s alright,” he said. The man nodded and looked out at the dance floor.
“That’s good,” he said. “You here alone?”
“Nah, I was dragged here by a friend,” Joseph admitted and then, for some reason, continued, “Haven’t seen him in a while though.” There was a pause. “You?”
“I was alone,” the man said and then smiled again, looking up and locking eyes with Joseph, and Joseph shuddered slightly. Oh god, was he going to―? “Until I found you.”
Oh god, he did.
Joseph suppressed the cringe. That had been terrible. Also kinda endearing in a weird, clichéd way, but still terrible. Sure, Joseph knew several girls who would melt like butter if someone said that to them, but did he seriously look like the kind of guy who would fall for such cheesy lines? He sure hoped not.
This is why he hated Valentine’s. Well, part of it anyway.
“Wow,” he said, because even if he’d managed to stop himself from physically gagging, he was still a firm believer in saying what you really thought. Usually it didn’t go over with people well, but Joseph had yet to participate in a fight he hadn’t won. And he was more than certain he could take this guy on if it came to that. “Wow.”
The man frowned.
“What?” he asked, looking displeased.
“I just… can’t believe you actually said that,” Joseph said, running a hand through his hair. He would have thought the man was joking if not for the seriousness of his expression. “Out loud. To me. That was… wow.”
“No need to be rude about it,” the man said, crossing his arms across his chest. Wait, was he actually insulted? After that line?
“Well sorry, didn’t mean to hurt your precious feelings,” Joseph said and with a scoff. “Maybe you shouldn’t go around spewing such comically bad lines if you’re not prepared for a little constructive criticism.”
The man gaped for a moment and then opened his mouth to retort.
“Caesar!” someone shouted nearby before he had time to say anything, followed by a petite blonde appearing out of the crowd. She latched onto his arm tightly. Joseph nearly choked on his own spit. Who the hell was this then?? “Where did you go, you said you would wait for me right there!”
“Sorry, Suzie,” the man said and glanced at Joseph. Joseph looked away quickly, pretended not to notice. Or care. “I just…” The girl followed his line of sight, but seeing only―at least from her perspective―an uninterested patron, she concluded that it was not important.
“Never mind that now,” she said. “I need to get something from my coat pocket asap and you have our cloakroom ticket!”
“Right, right,” the man said and let her drag him away. He gave one last glare towards Joseph before they disappeared into the crowd. Joseph stuck out his tongue when they were no longer in view.
What a jerk, Joseph thought, swirling his bottle around absently. He had literally just finished saying he was there alone, and then this hot chick shows up? And she clearly wasn’t even someone he’d just hit on earlier, they’d come to the club together! Joseph felt anger swelling in his chest as he thought about what a terrible Casanova the man must’ve been, hitting on random strangers when he already had such a cute girlfriend. Ugh, it was people like that that Joseph really couldn’t stand.
He wondered if the poor girl even knew what a slimebag her boyfriend was. She probably didn’t.
Joseph chugged down the rest of his drink and slammed the bottle back on the table with a bit more force than he’d meant to. He took a deep breath to calm himself a little and then stalked over to the dance floor.
He’d find someone cute to dance with to get his mind off the pompous Italian.
~x~
After a while Joseph had to run to the bathroom. Because that’s what happens when you drink three bottles of beer and a tequila shot in the span of an hour and a half.
He yanked open the door and almost collided full force with someone. There was a line. Of course. There always was when you were in a rush, wasn’t there? He cursed his luck before looking at the man he’d almost ran into, about to apologize―
“Oh great, you again,” he said instead, as the man turned and Joseph recognized him as the asshole from earlier.
“I think that’s my line,” he said, looking Joseph up and down disdainfully.
“Really? I thought this was the bathroom line,” said Joseph and grinned widely at the man’s utterly unimpressed face.
He rolled his eyes and turned away, apparently deciding Joseph wasn’t worth his time. Which, naturally, Joseph took as a challenge.
“Soo, Caesarino,” Joseph said, taking immense delight in the way the man turned around again, his face an amusing mixture of surprise and annoyance. “Have you gotten anyone to fall for your amazing pickup lines yet?”
“I was unaware that was any of your business,” he said, glaring again. “Also, my name isn’t Caesarino, it’s Caesar. As you seem to know full well.”
“Yeah, whatever,” said Joseph, waving him off. The annoyance increased.
“Why are you talking to me, exactly?” Caesar asked, crossing his arms. Defensive.
“Hey, you’re the one who came onto me and then so rudely left in the middle of our conversation,” Joseph said, fake offended.
“Well you did make it pretty clear you had no intention of talking to me, so…” Caesar trailed off with a halfhearted shrug and turned around once more. His dismissiveness was really starting to piss Joseph off. He didn’t like being ignored, especially by douches like this guy.
“Oh, I see how it is,” Joseph said with a nod, trying his best to sound disappointed and not angry. This time Caesar took a moment, before finally turning, letting out a longsuffering sigh.
“How what is?” he asked.
“You and your Casanova ways,” Joseph said, pointing a finger in Caesar’s face. “The second you realize you’re not gonna get someone to have sex with you, you lose interest and move on to your next prey.”
“Excuse me?” Caesar all but screeched. “The reason I stopped talking to you is because you’re a rude oaf and I have no interest in socializing with people who insult new acquaintances that easily.” He paused for a heartbeat and then tutted, a sly smile spreading on his lips. “If you’re this bitter about me leaving you at the bar, maybe the line worked better than you’re admitting.”
“Wha— who’s bitter?” Joseph scoffed. He wasn’t bitter! He’d been more than glad that the bastard had left him alone! It had been bad and annoying and in no way effective but now the asshole was twisting his words to suit his stupid ego.
Joseph was just about to make the greatest comeback ever, when the guy behind him huffed, sounding annoyed.
“Quit your yapping,” he said, and Joseph whipped around, ready to tell him and his raptor shirt to mind their own damn business when he pointed behind Joseph, into the bathroom. “The line’s moving.”
Joseph blinked and turned, as did Caesar, and sure enough there was no longer anyone in front of them and one of the stall doors was open. Caesar glanced at Joseph for a second, smirking, satisfaction over getting the last word written all over his dumb face, and then stepped into the stall.
The door closed behind him, marking the end of the conversation.
Joseph fumed. This was not over yet.
~x~
He finally found Smokey again after about ten more minutes.
“You would not believe the shit I’ve gone through,” he grumbled, leaning his elbows on the bar counter as Smokey signaled a bartender to get then some drinks.
“Yeah?” asked Smokey, seeming more amused than concerned at Joseph’s wailing. “What happened?”
“I was hit on,” Joseph said. Smokey raised an eyebrow. “By a dude. An asshole dude!”
“And if he hadn’t been an asshole?” Smokey prompted with a grin. Joseph huffed.
“Well, he was, so…” he said. He didn’t really want to think about what could’ve happened if the girlfriend hadn’t showed up when she did. The evening could’ve gone in a completely different direction.
“And why exactly was he an asshole?” Smokey asked mildly, ordering them both a beer.
“He was hitting on me even though he was already there with a chick,” Joseph said. “And a really pretty one at that! That’s a super shitty thing to do to another person, don’t you think?”
“I suppose,” Smokey said with a hum. The bartender placed the beers on the counter and Smokey slid her a 10, telling her to keep the change. They wandered into to crowd in search of a table. “How do you know they were together? Did one of them say so?”
“Well, neither of them said it,” Joseph admitted and Smokey gave him a pointed look. “But they had come together because they had the same cloakroom ticket. And she did cling to his arm really tightly.”
“Heteronormative much? You do know friends sometimes come to bars together, right?” he said and, to emphasize, wagged his finger between the two of them. Joseph huffed. “And maybe she was drunk and feeling affectionate. Or heck, maybe she is just a really affectionate person to begin with!”
“Why are you so hell bent on making me feel like I’m in the wrong here?” Joseph asked, pouting slightly.
“Because you’re being awfully judgmental of a dude you don’t actually know,” Smokey said with an easy smile. “Plus it’s fun to watch you try to explain your way out of things.”
“Some best friend you are…” Joseph muttered. Smokey ignored him in favor of addressing a couple who were occupying a portion of a larger table.
“Excuse me, mind if we sit here?” he asked the blonde girl smoothly. Joseph’s annoyance immediately turned to dread as he realized exactly who it was.
“No, Smokey, wait―” he managed to get out before Caesar snorted.
“If you’re this desperate for my attention,” he said with a grin, casually sipping some kind of colorful drink, “all you have to do is ask nicely.”
“I am not interested in your attention, thank you very much,” Joseph retorted. “Or your anything else, for that matter.”
Caesar shrugged. “Your loss.”
“Wait, is this the guy…?” Smokey asked, a wide smile spreading on his face. “Oh, we are definitely sitting here. I hope you don’t mind, miss?”
“Oh, no, not at all,” said the girl. Suzie was her name, if Joseph recalled correctly. Smokey nodded as thanks and took a seat opposite of her. “Are you… friends of Caesar’s?”
“As if I’d ever be friends with that guy,” Joseph huffed. He wasn’t going to sit down. He wasn’t… going to… he did, eventually, when it became clear Smokey wasn’t going to move.
“I wouldn’t be entirely opposed,” Caesar said. “Assuming you get over that denial of yours.”
“I am not in denial about anything!” Joseph didn’t shout. Except maybe he did a bit.
“Calm down, Jojo,” Smokey said, taking a hold of his arm and pulling him back down to sit on the chair again.
“So you do have a name,” Caesar said. “Good, I was getting tired of calling you the buff idiota.” He grinned as Joseph sputtered, looking him up and down. “Jojo, huh…? Sounds about right.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Joseph gritted through his teeth. Caesar’s grin widened. He looked way too pleased about himself and Joseph would have liked nothing better than to grab him by the collar and― “Besides, only my friends get to call me Jojo. For you, it’s Master Joseph. Or better yet, don’t talk to me at all.”
“I tried to, but it was you who kept continuously trying to get my attention earlier,” Caesar said. He was probably reaching maximum smugness any second now. Joseph hoped he would explode when that happened. “So, Master Joseph, might I suggest you figure out what exactly it is you want to accomplish here.”
“I’m actually a bit curious about that too,” Smokey, the backstabber, said, propping his chin on his hand, as he rested his elbow on the table. “Why exactly are you obsessing about this so much?”
“No, I’m not― I― he’s―” Joseph tried, but didn’t quite manage to form full sentences. His thoughts were becoming a jumble. That… that asshole, he was twisting Joseph’s words against him again, it was infuriating! Why couldn’t he think straight? “He’s the one who’s been antagonizing me the whole evening!”
“Have I though?” Caesar asked calmly, which gave Joseph pause. Caesar squinted a bit, like he was trying figure out what Joseph was thinking. Joseph was trying to figure that out as well. His thought process seemed to work alarmingly badly when it came to Caesar.
“I…” Joseph’s mouth said. His throat was dry. His eyes were starting to sting; he hadn’t blinked in a while, staring at Caesar.
Finally, it became too much.
He stood up abruptly, slamming his hands on the table. The bottles and glasses clattered as the table shook, and his chair scraped against the floor as it was pushed back.
“Screw this, I’m leaving,” he announced and turned, walking out towards the dance floor and its mass of people before anyone had time to comment.
~x~
Joseph danced. And he danced. And he danced.
Physical activity had always been a way of catharsis for him, an outlet for his stress. Something in the way he could lose himself in movement, any movement, in the sweat and the ache, the way his hands waved and his feet stomped and this hips swayed, was so relieving. Almost therapeutic.
There were no more thoughts, no more pain, just him and his body and the music. His heartbeat pounding in his ears.
A hand… on his arm?
Joseph spun around, surprised by the sudden, tight grip on his bicep. He was expecting it to be Smokey. Hell, he was expecting it to be a bouncer there to throw him out for being too rowdy.
He was not expecting it to be Caesar.
Caesar said something, his lips moving to form words that drowned under the music. He looked serious, much too serious and Joseph frowned at him as he tugged on his arm. Joseph yanked it away.
“What the fuck do you want?” he asked. His voice didn’t carry either, but his displeased scowl would be hard to misunderstand. Caesar tried to say something again, leaning forward. Joseph pointed at his ear and shook his head.
Caesar rolled his eyes. Joseph was this close to punching him.
Then Caesar motioned with his hand, a simple gesture with a universal meaning. “Follow me.”
Joseph really didn’t want to do that though, so he shook his head and started to turn away. The hand was back on his arm, stopping him, and he smacked it away. He accidentally hit some guy in the back at the same time, the dancefloor too full of people to avoid it. The guy took one angry look at Joseph and Caesar, however, and then decided on a quiet retreat instead of confrontation. Smart move, Joseph thought.
Caesar huffed, his brow knit together in annoyance, and gestured with his hands again. Joseph flipped him off, shoving the finger as close to Caesar’s face as physically possible without actually touching him. It was Caesar’s turn to smack his hand away. Joseph, perhaps against his better judgment, smacked back.
Caesar blinked, his eyes widening for a second, before the scowl was back on his face. Joseph smirked. A fist fight with this guy would be just what he needed right now. It would be fun to see how pretty his stupid, charming smile would be after Joseph punched half his teeth in.
Come on, Joseph thought, staring Caesar down. Give me a reason.
Caesar didn’t. Instead he motioned for Joseph to follow him again and made some gestures Joseph couldn’t be bothered to decipher. He tried to step closer to Joseph, but Joseph stepped back. Joseph bumped into someone as he did, but he didn’t turn to apologize, or even look. Caesar’s eyes flicked behind him though, if only for a second. Joseph continued to stare at Caesar, mentally daring him to do something.
Caesar reached over once more, his palm open and nonthreatening, probably to take a hold of Joseph’s arm again, and Joseph moved out of the way. Caesar tried again, the scowl on his face deepening by the second as Joseph kept moving just slightly out of the way. Caesar’s movements got faster, his hands darting out quicker each time, and Joseph changed from dodging to hitting the hands away, which―unsurprisingly―only served to make Caesar more aggressive. The crowd around them had started to back away as they noticed what was happening, until a large empty space had formed around the two.
Finally, Caesar managed to grab a hold of Joseph’s lower arm, his fingers wrapping tightly around it in an effort to not let Joseph get away again, but Joseph twisted his arm around, wringing it from Caesar’s hold. Caesar pulled his hand away momentarily and took half a step back, which was all the opening Joseph needed. His own hand darter forward, grabbing by the wrist the hand that had just been holding his, as he took a step right into Caesar’s personal space. Caesar blinked, startled, and went to move back as Joseph lifted his other arm and―
“Bloody Stream” started to blast from the speakers.
Something snapped in Joseph’s mind. Instead of continuing his original plan of socking Caesar in the jaw, he found himself spinning the man around a few times and then swinging him away by the arm he had been holding onto. Caesar, no doubt confused, took a few steadying steps and just looked at Joseph, squinting slightly as his mouth hung just a bit open. Joseph looked back for a heartbeat, stunned into place, which gave Caesar enough time to find his bearings again and react in time to the punch Joseph threw by blocking it with an arm.
He grinned. Joseph grinned back.
What followed wasn’t a fight, but it wasn’t really dancing either. It was an odd mixture of both, punches thrown and caught in time with the beat, dance moves turned into attacks. They circled each other in the space that had formed around them, neither managing to get the upper hand and both catching or dodging the other’s hits. Caesar clearly had the superior technique, but Joseph’s reflexes were as honed as ever, and his fighting intuition clearly gave the Italian a hard time every now and again. It was impressive, and frankly bizarre, how in tune they were with each other, how familiar it almost felt, this weird dance of theirs.
Joseph loved it.
The final note of the song exploded into silence and the air filled with the beginnings of the next one. They were still again and Joseph was breathing hard, his right hand gripping the nape of Caesar’s neck, their faces only a few inches apart. Caesar was panting too, their ragged breaths mingling in the small space between them as they tried to get air back in their lungs. Joseph’s mind was blank, conscious thoughts disappeared and nothing but raw unfiltered emotion running inside, coursing through his veins. His every nerve ending was on fire and Caesar was close, he was so close, how easy would it be to yank him just a bit closer―
A loud applause began and Joseph blinked as he slowly started to become aware of their surroundings again. The crowd that had fled their impending fight were still gathered around them, now cheering wildly and hooting, most of them with impressed looks on their faces. Joseph’s eyes traveled around the innermost circle of people, dazed and confused, until they fell on a pair of familiar faces: Smokey… and Suzie.
Joseph staggered back, jerking his hand away from Caesar like it had burned. He opened his mouth and then closed it, unable to form words that had all escaped his head anyway. He looked at Caesar―stupid, beautiful Caesar―who stood in front of him, a bit sweaty from the extortion and still trying to catch his breath somewhat, but his eyes were bright and he had a smile on his face, god why did he look so happy? Joseph didn’t understand, he had tried to fight him for fuck’s sake, there was no reason Caesar should look like that, it was ridiculous, it was brilliant, it was, it was―
Joseph spun around and escaped through the crowd.
~x~
He weaved through the people as he ran. He didn’t know where he was running. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was running. It was just… it had been too much.
Something was wrong with him.
He wound up in an empty hallway just past the toilets, the one with the emergency exit at the other end. There he finally stopped. He looked at the closed door. Dead end. Cornered. Nowhere left to go. The distant beat of the bass echoed in his ears. He took a deep breath and leaned his back against the wall, pressing his hands on his face. His cheeks were burning up.
What the fuck was wrong with him??
He didn’t understand what was happening. The whole evening had been, had been a mess! Why had Smokey insisted on dragging them here of all places? And why did he have to be here tonight? Why couldn’t Joseph have just backed down once in his life?? Why did he have to stare at random strangers across the bar???
Why couldn’t he stop thinking about Caesar?
He dragged his hands over his face and into his hair and let his head drop against the wall with a soft thud.
“Joseph!” came a voice and he jumped, his head whipping towards the open end of the corridor and the figure quickly approaching from there. He wondered if causing an alarm to go off by opening the emergency exit would be worth not having to face anyone. Especially him.
No.
Wait, no, what was he saying? He wasn’t about to let this guy just waltz all over him, was he? Why the hell was he thinking of backing down now? No, he was gonna push back dammit, and he was gonna push hard.
Joseph steeled himself, set his jaw and squared his shoulders as Caesar stopped in front of him.
“Man, you run fast,” Caesar said, blowing out a long breath.
“What the fuck do you want?” Joseph asked. Caesar blinked.
“I…” he said and paused. “I want to talk with you? That's why I came looking for you.”
“Oh, is that what you're calling it?” Joseph snorted. “‘Talking with me’? I thought it was more like ‘harassing me and then embarrassing me in front of my best friend’.”
“Are you kidding me?” Caesar huffed. “You didn’t need me to embarrass you, you did a splendid job of that on your own.” The confusion had quickly turned into annoyance again. “And need I remind you, I tried to leave you alone but you were having none of that.” He pointed a finger at Joseph’s face.
“You were the one who came onto me! With your dumbass pickup line!” Joseph said, smacking the hand away. Caesar’s eye twitched.
“You kept staring at me,” he said, over-articulating the words for emphasis. “So pardon me if I thought you might be interested!”
“I wasn’t starting at you, I was staring at these weird-ass feathered things,” Joseph said, flicking one of them with a finger. “I mean what even are these??”
“Hey, stop that,” Caesar said, slapping the hand. Joseph stuck out his tongue. “And they are hair accessories. Did you get that? Ac-ces-so-ries? I mean, it’s obvious you don’t know much about fashion, but I would’ve thought that’s a word you knew.” Caesar had a smug smile on his face. Joseph rolled his eyes.
“I know what an ‘accessory’ is, jeez,” he said. “What I don’t know is why you’d want to wear teeny tiny wings on your head. If you’re tryna be Cupid, you’re doing a pretty shitty job.” He snickered.
“I can’t even believe you’re making fun of my outfit,” Caesar snorted. “I can only hope you’re wearing that crop top ironically.”
“Excuse you, I look great in this top and you know it.”
“‘Great’ is debatable. More like ‘ridiculous’.”
“Hey, I’d rather be ridiculous and myself than a sad faker like you.”
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
“Come on, it’s obvious! With your clothes and your accessories and your fancy blood orange drinks… you’re practically screaming pretentious.”
Joseph’s back hit the wall with a loud thud. Caesar had an arm pressed across his chest, pinning him in place. Joseph was pretty sure he could’ve gotten out from the hold easily, but he didn’t.
“Shut the fuck up,” Caesar said. “What do you know? You don’t know me.”
Ooh, struck a nerve, had he? Well that suited Joseph just fine.
“Please,” Joseph said, grinning. “You may talk pretty and dress nice, but inside you’re just as lost and messed up as all the rest of us. Honestly, I’d wager even more so, seeing how desperate you are. I mean, why else would you be running around after me of all people? Takes a fuck-up to want a fuck-up, but at least I’m honest about it.”
“Shut. Up,” Caesar growled.
“Make me,” Joseph said.
Caesar did. Not in the way Joseph was prepared for, though.
The press of lips against his own was hard and insistent, almost bruising. Caesar’s hand had darted to the back of Joseph’s neck when he’d pulled him down the three and some inches and it was now tugging at the short hair, not quite painfully but getting there. Caesar had screwed his eyes shut, his whole body tense and desperation written in the air all around him.
Joseph felt like melting into the kiss. Then he realized what was happening.
“Shit,” he said, shoving Caesar away. He took several steps back as he tried to regain his balance. Joseph pressed a hand over his mouth. He could feel his pulse thrumming in his, well, everywhere. “What the fuck are you doing?” he demanded from Caesar, who was staring at him blankly.
“I was just―” he tried, but didn’t get anything else out.
“No, no, no, this is bad,” Joseph said, running a hand through his hair and beginning to pace slightly. “Why did you do that? Why did I let you do that?”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Caesar said quietly.
“No! It was bad!” Joseph said, pointing a finger at him. “Well, I mean, the kiss was fine, it was a fine kiss, but the existence of the kiss is bad! You shouldn’t― I don’t― No.” He took a deep breath. “No, I’m not going to do this, I can’t, it’s wrong.”
“What.” Caesar’s voice was flat. Joseph looked at him. His whole face was blank. Seeing him look like that made Joseph’s heart ache and he wanted nothing more than to reach over and embrace him, but he couldn’t do that. Not when...
“It’s wrong, Caesar, and I’m not going to be a part of it,” he said, his heart crying out to Caesar, but he turned around. “You should probably find someone else to be your mistress.”
He started to walk away.
“Joseph Joestar, you goddamn idiot!” Caesar shouted as something hard collided with the back of Joseph’s head.
“What the hell??” Joseph shouted back, rubbing at the sore spot. What the… had Caesar thrown a shoe at him? Had he taken off a shoe for the sole purpose of having something to throw?? Wait, Joseph hadn’t told him his last name, how―?
“Stop running away all the time!” Caesar continued to shout. His whole face was red, his brow furrowed and a fire in his eyes. “You get back here and explain yourself this instant!”
“‘Explain myself’? How about you explain yourself? What the fuck are you doing, flinging shoes around?!”
“I will fling anything I please at you if you’re being an asshat! Now you tell me exactly what you mean by it ‘being wrong’, or the next shoe will hit your face and my foot will still be inside it!”
“Oh my god, how the fuck do you need me to explain this to you? What part of cheating on someone do you think is not wrong??”
“Wait,” Caesar said. Everything rolled to a stop. They both blinked. As they'd been shouting their heads off, they had apparently approached each other, and now they were back to being chest to chest, standing in the middle of the hallway. Joseph looked down at Caesar as he blinked again, his mouth hanging a bit open. “You have a girlfriend?”
“No,” Joseph said slowly. Caesar squinted. “You do.”
“No I don’t.”
“But… what about that cute blonde you’re here with? Suzie?”
“She’s not my girlfriend!” Caesar exclaimed, looking appalled. “She’s my cousin!”
“Wait, really?” Joseph asked and it was his turn to blink again. “So… you’re not dating anyone either?”
“I wouldn’t have hit on you if I was,” Caesar said, crossing his arms. “What kind of a douchebag do you think I am?”
Joseph stared down at Caesar in silence for a while. Then he grabbed him by the face and kissed him.
Caesar staggered backwards under Joseph’s mass, until his back hit the wall. He was momentarily too stunned to move, but he seemed to catch on quickly and his hands started to trail a path up Joseph’s back, roaming over it in broad strokes before grabbing a tight hold of his shirt. Joseph rested one of his arms against the wall, next to Caesar's head, while his other hand was still holding on to the side of it, his fingers entangled in soft, blond hair. He pressed their bodies closer, pushing Caesar further against the wall, and Caesar let out a deep hum.
When they finally broke apart, they were both panting again. Caesar's tongue darted out of his mouth to wet his already pretty wet lips, and Joseph's eyes were immediately drawn to it.
“Wow,” said Caesar. He blinked slowly and licked his lips again. “That was… wow.”
“What?” Joseph asked with a grin. Caesar finally managed to lift his gaze up to Joseph's eyes from his mouth.
“I just can't believe you actually did that,” Caesar said, the corner of his own mouth tugging up as well. “To me.”
“To you?” Joseph asked, sliding his thumb along Caesar's cheek. His skin was so soft. Just like his lips had been. “I'd say I did it with you.”
“Mm, fair enough,” Caesar hummed. The grip he’d had on Joseph's shirt loosened and he let his hands drag along Joseph's sides to come rest on his hips. His right thumb drew small circles into the bare skin there. “Are you interested in doing it with me again?”
“I wouldn't be entirely opposed,” Joseph said and leaned in until their noses were just barely touching. “Assuming you'll ask me nicely.”
“Oh, did that not count?” Caesar asked, tilting his head slightly. “Do you want me to call you master again?”
“Ngh,” said Joseph, his face feeling like it had spontaneously combusted. He couldn't believe he'd actually said that. It was how the servants had addressed him when he’d still lived with granny Erina as a kid, but asking Caesar to call him that? God, it was so embarrassing. It just… it had slipped out in the heat of the moment.
Caesar leaned in, his mouth inches from Joseph's ear, his breath a warm puff against it.
“If it's a kink thing…” he whispered and Joseph shuddered slightly, “…I think we can work with that.”
“Oh my god,” Joseph groaned and crashed their lips together again. Caesar chuckled into the kiss, but it quickly turned into a moan when Joseph took it as an opportunity to deepen the kiss. His tongue kept brushing against Caesar's as he explored his mouth, and his fingers carded through Caesar's hair again, playing with the strands.
Caesar felt amazing against him, and Joseph had been an idiot for trying to pretend he didn’t want this.
And when Caesar let out a gasp as Joseph pushed a leg between his, Joseph was just about ready to die happy.
“Do, ah, do you...” he started, but speaking was hard when he couldn’t stop littering Caesar’s face with soft kisses, even if he’d somehow managed to pull their lips apart. Caesar hummed, prompting him to go on. “You want to take this somewhere… more private?”
“Mmm, I thought you’d never ask,” Caesar purred, and Joseph could feel the vibrations of the words against his lips as he pressed a kiss on Caesar’s throat. “My place or yours?”
“I live kinda far,” Joseph said with a frown. “And I don’t know what Smokey has planned for the evening. He’s my roommate, so…”
“That’s okay,” Caesar said, dragging a hand into Joseph’s hair and pulling his head up, so they were face to face. Joseph reveled in the tug on his scalp. “We can go to mine, I live alone.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Joseph said and leaned forward to peck one last kiss on Caesar’s mouth before pulling away. “Let’s get going then.”
Caesar chuckled as Joseph took a hold of his hand and started to lead them out of the corridor. “You’re a lot more enthusiastic about this than I’d have pegged you.”
“Mm, well, I’m not one to get hung up on little things. I just go with the flow,” Joseph said with a smile. “And right now the moment is definitely flowing towards going home with you.”
“Yes, you do strike me as someone like that,” Caesar said with another soft laugh. Joseph felt his heart pound faster at the sound.
They made their way quickly through the club and then paused at the cloakroom. Joseph handed the attendant his ticket while Caesar patted his pockets.
“Oh,” he said and Joseph turned to look at him. He blinked. “Suzie has our ticket.”
“Should we go find her?” Joseph asked as he was handed his own jacket.
“No, it’s fine, I’ll text her and tell her to take my jacket with her when she leaves,” Caesar said, waving his hand.
“Are you sure? It’s pretty chilly out,” Joseph said and Caesar gave him a smile before taking a hold of his arm and pulling him into motion towards the front door. “February and all that.”
“It’s fine, Jojo, it’s not a long walk,” he said, and then leaned a bit closer to whisper in Joseph’s ear, “Besides, once we get there, you’ll warm me up nice and hot, right?”
Joseph grinned. “I think I can do that,” he said, reaching down and slipping his hand into Caesar’s back pocket. Caesar raised an amused eyebrow but didn’t comment. “Lead the way then.”
He squeezed. Firmly.
Caesar let out a soft yelp as he jumped forward and then directed a glare towards Joseph. It was kinda cute, and Joseph chuckled, earning an intensity boost on the glare and an additional roll of eyes.
“Come on,” Caesar said, tugging on Joseph’s hand. Joseph just barely managed to catch the small smile at the corner of Caesar’s lips before he had turned away. “Before I change my mind.”
“You won’t,” Joseph said, but followed Caesar dutifully outside.
The cold hit them like a brick wall―or rather, it hit Caesar. While he was wearing a long sleeved shirt, it was cold out and he shivered visibly. Joseph wrapped an arm around him, pulling him against his side, and Caesar blinked up. “Which way?” Joseph asked, before he had time to say anything. Despite the cold, Joseph’s cheeks felt warm. Not that he’d admit it though.
“Just down the block,” Caesar said, pointing down the road. Joseph hummed in response and they started walking. They were quiet as they walked, the air cold around them, their breaths coming out in puffs of white, but Caesar was warm against his side and Joseph thought that maybe, just maybe, he could learn to appreciate Valentine’s days after all.