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Morning light slips through the window. Avery’s eyes drift across, registering the room in front of him while his head rests on the pillow. He doesn’t recognize the room, but he knows that he’s safe and that they’re alone. That should have been his first warning.
Turning around, he is greeted with D3rlord. A gentle smile graces his lips as he pulls Avery closer to him. Avery can feel that both of them are down to their boxers. Last night, he was scared to go any farther than making out in their underwear.
Don’t get him wrong: Avery would love to go farther. Despite that desire, he clammed up and lost every nerve he had. D3rlord, forever patient, suggested that they take things at a slower pace. Avery is forever grateful for D3rlord’s flexibility and understanding.
To show this gratitude, Avery reaches over and cups D3rlord’s face. D3rlord moves into his palm, placing a kiss and looking back at Avery with a loving look.
This simple act turns Avery into puddy.
D3rlord takes this as an invitation to get closer. He buries his head in the crook of Avery’s shoulder, leaving chaste kisses along his collar bone. Soft giggles escape Avery as D3rlord kisses upward, trailing along his neck and ending at the corner of his lips.
Avery, in turn, kisses him dead on the lips. Avery feels warm all over despite having no feeling of the kiss. This should have been his second warning.
After a few seconds, they part. Avery sighs as his face softens when gazing at D3rlord. Looking at his eyes, Avery notices that the color shifts. Green shifts to brown, then to blue. Avery doesn’t know if this is from the light messing with his eyes or if he’s seeing D3rlord’s true eye color. Regardless, it’s still beautiful.
Voicing these thoughts is his final warning. Avery’s words are garbled and his voice is distorted. D3rlord simply chuckles, saying something loving yet unintelligible.
When Avery opens his mouth to respond he wakes up. Sitting up immediately with a gasp, he realizes that D3rlord’s face is already fading from his mind. He curls up into a small ball, trying to hold onto any memory he conjured and to stop the sobs that wrack his lungs.
As Avery sits on the subway he knows he looks disheveled. That dream left him disoriented, causing him to rush his morning routine and look less than presentable. Unkempt hair obscures his vision as he slumps in the seat facing the subway map. Avery doesn’t need to school his face into one of disinterest, wearing his emotions on his sleeve does all the work.
His eyes flick between the map and his open phone. When searching for Derek Hutchins, all that comes up are a doctor, some scriptwriter, and the video made by Wifies. Being left with only a name, Avery can feel empty curses claw at the back of his mind. Those thoughts are immediately retracted, replaced with a feeling of guilt for even thinking about cursing Derek.
Lifting his eyes from the phone screen, Avery meets the gaze of a stranger. They quickly turn away, embarrassment obvious on their face. Normally, Avery would give a smile and a small wave. At this moment, he’s too tired and emotionally drained to engage with a tourist.
The train slows to another station. Just two more stops and Avery would get off and be forced to continue on with his life. His phone turns off as Avery gets lost in thought.
With the influx of passengers and the train moving comes airflow. One of the many drafts hits his neck, causing him to shiver. In another life, it would be Derek’s lips causing that shiver instead of the musty air. Avery places a hand on his neck, wishing that he were in that other life.
The train lulls to a stop. The speaker states his destination. Begrudgingly, Avery gets up and prepares to continue on with his life. As he steps off the train and towards the outside, Avery wishes that Derek kept him company instead of the toil of the city.