Chapter Text
Rain pours down, drumming on the wood roof of the spa. Alex shrugs off his drenched jacket, the water dripping onto the floor as he shakes it before shoving it in a locker. He peels his shirt off his back and shoves it in the locker, closing the door before anything falls out. The old building smells like mildew and citrus air freshener, the air humid and cool. He grabs a towel and goes to the rack of weights, settling it around his neck as he sits down and grabs a dumbbell. The cold metal in his palm always made him feel exhilarated, but today he felt antsy, like it wasn’t enough.
I feel so off today… what’s the deal-
His thought is cut off by the sound of the door to the locker room opening and heavily shutting again. He hears footsteps approaching and he wonders who it could be before they round the corner.
Sebastian is already pulling his hoodie off as he walks to a locker. He opens it and hangs it in the hook inside and then removes his shirt, folding it and setting it inside before glancing to his right. He makes eye contact with Alex before glancing down a bit, and then away.
“Nice abs.” Alex pauses his lifting. He’s a bit surprised at the lack of any cigarette smoke smell, and confused as to what his words could mean.
“Uh, thanks, I guess…”
“Mm.” Sebastian’s cool response and demeanor makes the conversation feel even more awkward to Alex, it feels a bit uncomfortable and he suddenly feels like he needs to go for a run. Instead, he continues lifting the dumbbell in his hand, pretending not to look at Sebastian as he starts pulling his pants down…
Wait, what? Why am I looking?!
He forces his eyes away as Sebastian pulls off his boxers as well, folding them and his pants and putting them in the locker.
“Didn’t know you swing that way.” Alex stops lifting again, meeting Sebastian’s eye.
“What?” Sebastian doesn’t say anything, but glances downward and turns toward the shower. Suddenly, Alex is all too aware of how tight his shorts are around him, a tent pitched in them like they’re ready to camp. He presses his legs together hurriedly and places the dumbbell down.
“I’m… I’m not gay.” It’s quiet for a second, the only sound is the faucet being turned and the water starting to spray from the shower head.
“It’s fine if you are dude, it’s not like I’m gonna beat you up, I’m not Shane.” The minimal sweat on Alex’s body feels like too much, his face burns and he wants the floor to just swallow him whole. He should probably rinse off and call it quits for today. He tugs his own shorts and boxers off and shoves them in his locker before joining Sebastian in the shower, turning the faucet for the other shower head, making sure the water is cold.
Sebastian washes the makeup off his face, scrubbing the eyeliner off before putting some shampoo in his hair and lathering it in. The soap smells like coconuts and Alex is caught up thinking about how that’s such a feminine scent to choose and wouldn’t Sebastian want to choose something more masculine? Alex uses New Spice brand soap, a very manly brand with very manly scents and the cologne he uses is also very manly, he wonders if Sebastian even uses cologne. Maybe he uses perfume if he prefers feminine scents? He scowls at the tiles in front of him and soaks his face in the cold spray of water. Sebastian’s body isn’t very masculine, he’s kind of scrawny and he doesn’t have much muscle, his clothes always look pretty baggy so he probably has a smaller frame, and if Alex squints reaaaaally hard Sebastian looks a little bit like a girl-
“Hey, man, are you okay? Your face is like, firetruck colored.” Alex is ripped from his thoughts and his eyes turn to lock with Sebastian’s, his face is less pale and his eyes look different without the eyeliner around them, his lips look pinker too, his eyelashes look kind of long when they’re wet like this and his hair is longer than Alex realized now that it’s all washed out and not styled. Alex bites his tongue to distract himself and he hurriedly looks away.
“Yeah I’m fine, it’s just kinda hot in here.”
“Mm.”
Is that all he has to ever respond with?
“You don’t have to be embarrassed for getting a hard on dude, I’m a guy too I know you can’t control it.” Alex squeezes his hands into fists a few times before washing his own hair.
“I’m not gay.”
“I didn’t say you were.” Alex’s face feels like it’s on fire, the cold water doing nothing to remedy the embarrassment he feels. In his peripheral vision he can see Sebastian finish rinsing his hair, turning instead to lathering soap on his body. Alex turns his head just slightly to watch as Sebastian’s hand glide over his arms. They’re skinny and pale and not very hairy. His chest isn’t very hairy either, really he doesn’t get much hair until just under his belly button. Hair starts there and gets thicker as it goes down.
“Alex if you want to look just ask, you’re being creepy.” He feels like he was just caught watching porn, he might just die right here.
“I wasn’t-!”
“I’m not stupid dude, you’re right there, I can see you. Just ask and I’ll let you look.”
For a moment it’s silent aside from the sound of the showers beating water down on the two men.
“Sebastian…”
“Yes?”It goes quiet again, suddenly the water on Alex feels far too cold.
“Can I look?”
“Yeah.”
Sebastian turns his body towards Alex. His black hair falls around his face and neck and the soap on his shoulders run down his arms along with the water before dripping off of his slender fingers. Alex is hesitant to drink in the sight, this feels fake, like a dream he’ll wake up from any moment. Alex bites the inside of his cheek for a moment before opening his mouth again.
“Do you like men?”
“Yeah, I like women too though.”
“Oh. So are you gay?”
“No, I like women too. I’m bi.”
“Oh.” Alex lets himself go quiet and his eyes run over Sebastian’s body as he continues washing himself. His hands rub suds over his chest, all of his skin is so pale, but the peaks of his chest are pink. There’s a pale pink scar that looks like it’s probably from an appendectomy, and next to it is black hairs that trail down… Sebastian isn’t soft, although Alex has never seen another man before, he can tell easily enough that that’s not what a soft dick looks like. He’s cut and the tip is rosy just like his nipples, a stark difference from the dark hair that surrounds it at its base.
“You’re getting one on…”
“A buff guy with a boner is looking over my body like a blushing bride, I’m gonna get hard.” The words have no bite, but they aren’t delivered gently either. Alex’s ears burn and he wants to hide forever. Sebastian is right though, Alex is filled out and aching. The two of them stay quiet as they finish washing up in the shower before turning off the water.
“I’m getting in the bath, are you gonna come?”
Alex stands still, unsure of what to do or say or even think. So he stays silent. A few moments pass before Sebastian turns to walk towards the entrance to the bath.
“You can take your time if you’re gonna come in. Don’t feel pressured.” How is he staying so collected? He’s acting like all of this is nothing, he hasn’t so much as blushed this entire time! The scent of rain seeps in through the building and Alex paces for a few moments before finally turning to the entrance of the bath.