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demigod
with 311 posts
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we were raised kings of nowhere |
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Post by ANGEL ALESSI on Jul 30, 2014 5:47:00 GMT
It's morning. The blinds are shut tight, but he can smell the coffee downstairs. The night left its pulse, a dull throb around his forehead; a smear of lipstick on the pillowcase. Angel sits up alone in bed. He pulls his knees to his bare chest, wraps his arms around his legs, and remembers everything is the same as it has been.
Angel stumbles home drunk, crawls into bed, Nevada holds him through the night and makes breakfast in the morning. Angel dances all night. Angel has too many drinks. Angel turns heads in a way he's never done before. Angel smells like piss and vomit, he smelled like whiskey and he wouldn't let go. The night left a bracelet of bruising around his wrist.
It's faint and yellowed already; he rubs at it thoughtlessly, as if he can make it shine like real gold. Angel feels dizzy; nothing is the same. He can't explain - there's no more scars, his skin laces itself together overnight, his hangovers are barely there. He feels better, or he should. He's so beautiful now.
(It reminds him of being sixteen, plucked off the street and into a man's lap. He sits on the dingy couch and lets Angel use his shower. He tells Angel he's very pretty, he's very good, he's very thankful.)
Swaying a little where he sits, he flops back onto the bed. Even the nausea is barely there. It's too much and it's not enough all at once, whatever it is. Whatever he'd swallowed greedily, the juice he'd sucked down, the fruit he'd taken from the monster's claws. Some days he wonders if it had happened at all.
Something has changed, it's Angel and it's everyone around him. Maybe Nevada too.
Angel lays in bed until he hears him calling from the kitchen. Has his voice always sounded like that? Is that always the tone of his voice?
He stays in bed, like he doesn't hear.
NEVADA RAINES
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Post by NEVADA RAINES on Jul 31, 2014 3:10:25 GMT
Angel comes home as the sun begins to sneak over the horizon. He slips quietly into bed, into his arms. There are tears dried on his face that Nevada pretends he doesn’t see because he’s pretending to sleep. He gets up a few hours later when the sun colors everything in vivid gold. He wasn’t sleeping, merely lying in bed with his eyes closed until the sunlight wormed under the blinds. It is the same routine as always, and at the same time it not. There is a change, something he can nevert place. As much as he tries, he simply can’t. Merely thinking of Angel makes his brain turns to jelly. All he can think of is how much he loves him, how beautiful he is. He climbs the stairs to the bedroom when Angel doesn’t stir. It’s not unusually for the blonde to sleep through breakfast. But something’s wrong, even his mushy brain can detect it. He opens the door, eyeing the dark shape of the blonde on the bed. “Angel, are you awake?”ANGEL ALESSI
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demigod
with 311 posts
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we were raised kings of nowhere |
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Post by ANGEL ALESSI on Aug 1, 2014 3:20:27 GMT
He curls up, yanks the bedsheets over his head like a shroud. They're cool and clean, and Angel is going to soil them, he's a mess, he's dirty and sticky and it's a wonder Nevada lets him into his bed like this. (It's a wonder Nevada does anything for him, really).
The penthouse is quiet, removed from the city below, and he can hear Nevada's footsteps padding up the stairs.
He pulls the blankets down, just enough that he can peer at his silhoutte in the doorway.
Angel doesn't feel like breakfast, so he covers his face again and ignores Nevada.
NEVADA RAINES
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Post by NEVADA RAINES on Aug 4, 2014 4:25:02 GMT
White sclera gleam in the swathe of darkness. He knows Angel is awake, looking at him from under the covers. They disappear from view. Now he’s hiding. Breakfast isn’t appealing to him, for reason’s Nevada doesn’t know. He never asks. What Angel does outside the house was never much of a concern of his before. It is now, but he doesn’t know if he can ask. Angel is almost as private as Nevada is, if not more. He never talks if Nevada worked up to questioning him about his night. “Did something happen last night?” The question leaves his mouth dry. He regrets letting it creep past his lips into the stale air of the bedroom. “ You do not have to eat. However, I would like if you got out of bed, even to just take a shower. You might feel better.”ANGEL ALESSI
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demigod
with 311 posts
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we were raised kings of nowhere |
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Post by ANGEL ALESSI on Aug 4, 2014 22:16:28 GMT
He shrugs, which is a little hard to do curled up beneath the covers as he is.
He doesn't really bother to pretend he's okay. He hasn't really been okay for a while, though he'd never admit it. Nevada won't pry anyways. Nevada is always softer kisses, tender words. He has the gentlest hands Angel's ever known, but he still refuses to fall into them.
"Make me." He grumbles, knowing perfectly well Nevada can't make him do anything. And all the good intent and concern in the world isn't going to get Angel out of bed this morning.
NEVADA RAINES
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Post by NEVADA RAINES on Aug 5, 2014 5:49:52 GMT
A shrug is all he gets for an answer, and all he will ever get. Angel isn’t one to talk about things that happen to him. In that sense he is more private than Nevada is. Nevada is probably to blame for never really having it in him to pry. He is sure it’s because Angel doesn’t trust him not to use the information against him. He’s an extortionist after all. But worry is winning out over his consideration for the blonde’s feelings. He knows something is wrong. It’s serious this time and he can’t just sit by. The white-and-teal haired man feels bolder than usual. He peels the sheets away, carefully lifting Angel from them. Once he couldn’t even dream of carrying Angel. Now he can. He has built up the strength to over time. Between carrying the drunk blonde to bed and working out, he isn’t as weak as he was when they met. Angel’s weight feels right in his arms now. “Do not be stubborn, Angel.” He chastises him as he carries him into the bathroom. ANGEL ALESSI
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demigod
with 311 posts
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we were raised kings of nowhere |
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Post by ANGEL ALESSI on Aug 5, 2014 6:15:02 GMT
Nevada doesn't talk about himself, and neither does Angel talk about himself. Nevada knows more than he should already. They're going to get married (they don't talk about that either) and they don't know anything about one another. They're quieter than ever.
He tries to tug the sheets back, but Nevada pulls them out of his grip with more strength that Angel had expected. But he's still gentle when he lifts him up.
Angel twists, confused, in his arms. "What are you doing?" The drowsy warmth slips off into icy panic as Nevada pushes open the bathroom door.
NEVADA RAINES
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Post by NEVADA RAINES on Aug 5, 2014 6:39:06 GMT
Angel fights, he protests. Nevada doesn’t stop. He takes Angel to the bathroom in silence. When they’re inside, he chooses to answer Angel’s question. “You have need for a shower. I am assisting you.” Nevada knows he is more than capable of showering himself. He is in better shape than Nevada, more so when he was made beautiful again (though he was always beautiful to Nevada). There was more to it than just erased scars and rejuvenated skin and muscles. He doesn’t know what. He carefully peels of the soiled clothes sticking to Angel’s body. There’s a fading bruise on his wrist, but it looks old. How long ago had it been placed there? “Would you like to shower together? You once insisted that we should.”ANGEL ALESSI
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demigod
with 311 posts
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we were raised kings of nowhere |
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Post by ANGEL ALESSI on Aug 5, 2014 7:09:25 GMT
It takes a few seconds for the hysteria to set in, for him to realize what's happening. The way men look at him when their skin brushes in the crowded heat of the dancefloor; he tries to see if Nevada's looking at him that way, but his hands are already all over him, undressing him.
He wants to shower together.
Nevada has always been a fucking prude, he doesn't want these things.
"No." His blood runs cold, and he shoves Nevada away, off him. "Don't touch me." Maybe some part of Angel had gotten used to the gentleness, the teary-eyed part of him looking for it in Nevada now.
NEVADA RAINES
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Post by NEVADA RAINES on Aug 6, 2014 3:31:35 GMT
He tries desperately to keep from dropping Angel, but the blonde is stronger than he remembers. Nevada loses his grip and falls back. He would try to catch him, though he is sure he wouldn’t make it in time, if he hadn’t been frozen in shock by Angel’s outburst. It is not like Angel to reject him so harshly, not like this. “I apologize,” he finally manages to say after a long shocked silence. “Are you all right?” He doesn’t move to help Angel up, or make sure he isn’t hurt. He was told not to touch him. The rejection still stings like a slap to the face. “I should not have been so bold. I assumed that was what you wanted of me, and that was my mistake.”Nevada picks himself up, feeling a bruise forming where Angel’s hands pressed into his chest. When had Angel become so strong? How did his scar vanish? ANGEL ALESSI
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demigod
with 311 posts
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we were raised kings of nowhere |
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Post by ANGEL ALESSI on Aug 6, 2014 6:46:06 GMT
The adrenaline wears off before he feels himself on the floor, cold tile, a dull ache along his spine where he fell. He's tense, still. He's scared Nevada will grab for him again, Nevada will turn into any other man. He might take what's his this time.
Tears are threatening to spill, and he blinks them back, eyes still locked on Nevada as he watches him stand.
He's sorry. Angel's trying to talk himself down in his head while guilt swells in his chest. He knows its not his right to refuse, not when he's laying in Nevada's bed in the clothes Nevada bought, not when he's Nevada's property too.
He presses a hand to his temple, the one with the faded bruising around the wrist. "They're crazy." His voice is thin. "I was scared you wouldn't let me go... It doesn't matter." He wants to get up and go back to bed, but instead he sits on the floor and tries not to cry.
NEVADA RAINES
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Post by NEVADA RAINES on Aug 7, 2014 3:55:23 GMT
Nevada isn’t like the other men who pay Angel to sleep with them. He never wanted that from Angel, though one way or another he had gotten it. Unlike those other men, Nevada was in love with the blonde. It’s not just his body that wants him, and that’s enough to keep his lust at bay. His feelings for the blonde make him considerate of the blonde, fearful of hurting him and making him shy away from him. This rejection hits him hard. Angel’s broken explanation leaves him stunned and a little angry. Not at Angel. He could never be angry at him, not for long. “Were you harmed by someone last night?” He questioned. Any hint of anger is hidden beneath his usual composure. But anger builds up as the thought whirls in his head. Someone dared to touch Angel against his will. Whoever they are, they would regret it. He had his ways, he could find them. “What did they do to you?”ANGEL ALESSI
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demigod
with 311 posts
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we were raised kings of nowhere |
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Post by ANGEL ALESSI on Aug 9, 2014 2:43:19 GMT
Nevada had never forced Angel into sex, but he had forced him to stay in his penthouse. It seemed faraway and strange, that he'd been kept here against his will. Now Angel owns the space, his clothes in the closet, his toothbrush in the bathroom, the messes he leaves all over - it feels like home. More like home than anywhere else Angel's ever lived.
Things are different now. Nevada isn't the cold and commanding man who'd taken Angel home like a prize. Angel could almost believe he cared. He tried not to.
He shakes his head. He's never been one to ask for help. (But why tell Nevada in the first place?)
Angel draws a deep breath, combing his fingers through his hair, brushing it back from his face. "It's fine." He insists, with a shake of his head. He doesn't feel so upset, now - just stupid, so stupid.
NEVADA RAINES
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Post by NEVADA RAINES on Aug 9, 2014 4:41:00 GMT
Angel brushes his concern off. It isn't unusual but he is still concerned. He has never seen such a reaction from Angel. Nevada has always been told to be more forceful. Angel says he likes it when men take charge. He complains when Nevada is a prude and doesn't do the things he expect him to, the things other men do. He is beginning to think Angel prefers him tender and doting. Angel is priceless. He is breakable and precious. He should be cherished. "I apologize. I should not have tried to make you do something against your will." He is apologizing again. Angel won't say what is wrong so Nevada doesn't know what else feel but guilt. "Are you all right? Were you hurt when I dropped you." ANGEL ALESSI
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demigod
with 311 posts
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we were raised kings of nowhere |
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Post by ANGEL ALESSI on Aug 9, 2014 5:08:24 GMT
"It's fine." He says again (It really isn't). "Never mind."
He's always wanted Nevada to be more like the other men he's dated. He's always searched for something familiar - rough and carnal - in his touch.
The pain is fading already. Maybe he's bruised up, but it'll be gone by the end of the day. Stiffly, he raises himself to sit up.
NEVADA RAINES
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