"We're back home guys!" Lumina yelled as she tossed her briefcase halfway across the room and onto the couch. Mina walked in and sighed.
"Lumi, you could have decked someone in the face with that briefcase," She said, exasperatedly.
"Oh, shut up, Minarina. We both know that you would be the first person to laugh at whoever it was that got hit, especially if it was Leon or Fenix," Xander grinned, running his hand through his hair.
Kaedan walked into the room and Xander was surprised to see his hair color was different from before. His curls had been dyed a soft, glowing hazel and were framing his face, along with the thin-rimmed glasses.
"Hey there, love. Your hair looks great. And I like the change in outfit, too. Damn, babe, you look good, what have you been up to?" Xander almost licked his lips. Then he noticed the dagger in his hand and immediately, worry began to show on his face, "Did something happen while we were gone?" He asked, looking at the blade.
"Oh, this?" Kaedan asked, holding up the blade, "Nothing. Just some idiots decided to pick a fight with Owen and Leon. One of them punched Leon in the face so I slit their throat," He said nonchalantly.
Why was that actually so hot? God, this man has no idea what he does to me without even trying.
Kaedan ran his hand through his hair which gave him a messy bedhead look—Or as Xander would call it, after-sex hair. It caused his bright green-blue eyes to contrast quite well. He was wearing a white button-down shirt under a knitted vest with jeans which gave him a bit of a librarian look but Xander had to say that with his sleeves rolled up and his tattoo sleeve showing on his right forearm, it was definitely a sexy librarian look.
And the self-confident, almost knowing grin, the way he held the knife so expertly, goddamn that was hot. Xander was damn sure that Kaedan was doing this on purpose.
"Xander, stop it. The bedroom is right upstairs," Mina rolled her eyes.
The older man smirked, "You know, I think I'll take you up on that offer, Mina," He said, his eyes not leaving Kaedan.
"You can try, Alex." Kaedan looked at him teasingly, crossing his arms.
"Try I will, then," Xander said grinning, as he picked up Kaedan. All the while, the chestnut-haired man was rolling his eyes. He kneed his boyfriend in the stomach, and Xander put him down immediately. Or in other words, he dropped him.
"Ugh, could you maybe have not dropped me?" Kaedan groaned as he rubbed his back.
Xander glared at him, "Are you kidding me? You're blaming me when you—"
"Did you really expect anything different? This is me we're talking about, of course, I wasn't about to make it that easy for you," Kaedan raised his eyebrows.
"...Yeah, now that I think about it, I probably should have taken that into consideration..." Xander said sheepishly, scratching his head. Kaedan sighed and kissed him on the cheek, "But in my defense, you could maybe not kick me in the gut when I pick you up," He muttered.
"I think I'll pass on that, yeah?" Kaedan grinned, teasingly.
"What the hell is happening?" Lumina cut in, looking at the two of them. Mina looked just as confused.
"Does it seem like we know?" Kaedan sighed, exasperated. "Honestly, everyone in this house is a mess."
"House! Speaking of houses, get ready to move, y'all. We have a new base which is much better than this shitty apartment," Lumina remembered what had just gone down and shared the news.
"So, what did you threaten them with?" Kaedan asked, knowing their family.
"Serving jail time for fraudery, stealing property, and weirdly enough, defacement of birth certificates," Xander said. Mina and Kaedan looked at him confused.
"Oh right, guess who may or may not be blood-related siblings?"
A long explanation later, Xander flopped onto the bed, sighing at the comfort. Kaedan only rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's antics and closed the bedroom door, "What the hell? She's actually my sister. Not complaining, she's always been like a sister to me but still…The fact that we've been this close for so long and just missed the mark…And on top of that, we might all be going crazy except for Nia and Leon who seem to understand a bit too much about why everything seems fucked up," Xander muttered, running a hand through his hair, gripping it.
"You've kept it together for so long, babe. It's just me, you can let it out. How are you holding up?" Kaedan asked, sitting next to him, and looking down at his boyfriend.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I just need my—" Then Xander cut himself off as the realization dawned on him. Kaedan realized only a second later.
"Your medication was—" Kaedan began to say.
"—Still in the base, oh God. I forgot to get it. How could I be so stupid?" Xander finished, muttering to himself as he began to panic.
Kaedan noticed Xander's breathing beginning to speed up and he pulled him up so he was sitting on the edge of the bed while Kaedan himself was on one knee in front of him, between Xander's legs.
"Hey, hey, it's alright. Listen, it's just medication. There has to be a local pharmacy or something. No matter how rare it is, they must have it," Kaedan said, taking Xander's hands in his own, "Remember what we worked on? Start with Andromeda, and keep going alphabetically, right? Then, Antlia after Andromeda…"
"Then, Apus...Aquarius...Aquila, Ara, Aries, Auriga…." And Xander fell into a steady rhythm of naming every one of the 88 constellations.
"...Virgo, Volans, and Vulpecula," Xander finished and Kaedan sighed in relief. The older man's breathing was back to normal, "How about we stay here and I'll tell Lumina to go get the medicine, how does that sound?"
Xander nodded, before burying his face in Kaedan's neck. The younger man ran his hand through Xander's hair, sighing softly, "It's okay. We're gonna be okay, alright?"
Xander let out a muffled affirmative noise, not moving himself. Kaedan begrudgingly pulled himself away and quickly grabbed his phone to text Lumina about the medicine. He then got up and walked over to their dresser, pulling off the sweater vest, and leaving him in the fitted white button-down shirt. He started undoing the buttons with one hand as he checked his phone to see Lumina had texted back that she and Mina were heading out.
"How are you doing, babe?" Kaedan asked, without turning back. He hadn't realized that the taller man had silently got up and made his way towards him.
He startled slightly when he felt two hands on his waist but quickly relaxed into his touch. Xander leaned down and nuzzled his neck before saying, "A little better, especially thanks to you, Kae."
"Alright, then, Mr. Liu, wasn't that a pretty big mood switch?" Kaedan teased him, turning in his arms and resting his own hands on Xander's shoulders. He felt Xander's hands tighten around his waist.
"Oh, that is not fair, Kae. You know what that does to me," Xander groaned, resting his face against Kaedan's neck, "You really use anything and everything, don't you? Quit it, I know what you're trying to do."
"You really do know me so well, Mr. Liu," Kaedan grinned as he put more emphasis on the last two words. Xander rolled his eyes and didn't hesitate to pick him up easily. Kaedan yelped and his hands immediately clasped behind Xander's neck, burying his face in his shoulder and wrapping his legs around Xander's waist.
"You're adorable, Kae," Xander smirked, and Kaedan turned to look at him. Xander placed him on the bed, climbing onto the bed in front of him before pressing his lips onto the other man's.
Kaedan grinned against his mouth, "No, you're cuter," He responded, cupping Xander's face with his hands. He fell back, pulling Xander with him. He hovered over Kaedan, one hand on his cheek, the other holding him above him. They pulled apart, and Kaedan leaned up to peck him on the lips again, tangling his fingers in Xander's hair. Xander dove in for another kiss, catching Kaedan's bottom lip between his teeth. Kaedan gasped, and he could feel Xander smirk against his lips. Kaedan finally managed to pull away through all his delirium and press his forehead to Xander's.
"Hey...As much as I'm enjoying this…Maybe we should wait until you've got your medicine. I don't want you to be preoccupied thinking about that while we're doing this," Kaedan murmured, gasping in between words as Xander's mouth trailed down towards his neck. Xander pulled away, and Kaedan looked at the other's lips.
Xander smiled and leaned down to brush butterfly kisses on his forehead, his cheeks, and his nose, and then pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, lingering there, before capturing them again in another kiss, "If that's what you want, baobei," Xander said, and Kaedan didn't know how long his self-control would last if Xander kept calling him "baobei" in that tone.
Suddenly, Xander got up and Kaedan whined at the absence of heat. He didn't even blink though, he knew how shameless he could be at times. However, Xander turned to look at him, "Kae, if you want us to wait until we get the medicine, you cannot be making noises like that," He said sternly. He turned around and slowly started unbuttoning his shirt. Kaedan was absolutely dying inside. It was almost like watching a personal show, and all Kaedan wanted was for him to hurry up.
Xander turned back to face him and Kaedan's breath caught in his throat.
The evening sun rays were filtering in through the window, and they painted Xander with a golden hue. His hair was tousled, and he seemed to be messing it up more as he ran his hands through his hair. His eyes met Kaedan's and the latter was met with molten gold and flecks of bright colors, like stars. Neither of them was breaking eye contact, it wasn't clear whether they couldn't or they wouldn't. The shirt Xander was wearing was hanging off of him, barely still on, only because the sleeves kept the shirt on his arms.
Xander's gaze held pure adoration and affection, his high cheekbones, a sharp jawline, the body of a precisely cut sculpture, and while Kaedan knew he liked people taller than him, there was something about Xander's presence that was so versatile. Sometimes, he felt smaller than Kaedan, and it made the younger man want to wrap him in his arms and keep him safe. Other times, he felt much taller than Kaedan, even though their height difference wasn't all that much. Xander's eyes finally left Kaedan's only to trail down from his eyes to his lips, to his neck, and further down. When his eyes flitted back up to meet Kaedan, the younger man didn't look away, he couldn't look away. His boyfriend was absolutely beautiful, and he knew it. Then, his eyes traced the dark ink on his skin
Oh, the tattoos.
Xander had many tattoos. And Kaedan loved every single one, the one on his bicep, the one on his arm, the new one on his neck, even the tattoo above his chest that Xander hated, the one that represented his past affiliation to the White Lotus. Once, it was something Kaedan couldn't stand looking at but now, he saw it as a symbol of what his boyfriend had endured, what he had survived. Most of all, though, Kaedan especially loved the ones on Xander's back, watching them contort due to Xander's back muscles. The ink made him look even more beautiful.
He remembered when Xander had first gotten his back inked, Kaedan had asked why he would get a tattoo there if people couldn't see it.
The older man had only grinned and said that he didn't need everyone to see it, but Kaedan could certainly get him into situations where he'd be the only one to see it often.
Needless to say, that night had been interesting.
Kaedan held his hand out to Xander, beckoning him. Xander walked over, standing in front of him. Kaedan gently began tracing the tattoo higher on his arm, knowing the details by heart, having mapped it out with his fingers and even his mouth once, "What was it this time? Why did you get another one?" He asked softly.
Xander hesitated before answering, "It was that feeling again. Like I'd been in that same position before, or more specifically, I'd seen you like that before. It was scary, Kae, you didn't respond to anything for days...Lumina forced me to get out of the house and somehow, I found myself at the tattoo shop and…" Xander trailed off as Kaedan gently began tracing his new tattoo. Suddenly, something caught Xander's eye and he grabbed Kaedan's hand and flipped it over, baring his wrist.
"Wait, no, don't look—" Kaedan said, struggling to pull his hand away, but it was already too late. He refused to meet the older man's eyes, realizing that Xander had already seen it.
"Kaedan...Did you really…" He looked at the tattoo in wonder. It spelled out Xander's name on his wrist, over the veins where someone would check for his pulse. This was only the second time Kaedan had ever gotten tattooed. Xander knew about the tattoo on Kaedan's neck, the one that spelled Kaedan's late older brother's name, but this was a new one.
"I'd been wanting to do it for a while, honestly, there was never a moment where we were apart so I could never find a chance to get away and get it done," Kaedan murmured and Xander leaned down and pressed his lips to every letter. Kaedan stared at him before saying, "If that's the case, I also have that dragon tattoo on my chest—" and Xander laughed softly.
"You're ridiculous. God, I love you," He said softly, almost reverently, leaning down to press a kiss to Kaedan's forehead, and then leaving little pecks all over his face. Kaedan struggled to push him away laughing a bit at the sudden attack. He slowed down, leaving marks at Kaedan's jawline, the other tilting his head up to give him more room with a content sigh as he tangled his fingers in Xander's dark hair.
"Hm, I thought we were going to wait until I got the medicine," The older man smirked. At that moment, Kaedan knew that everything had been intentional. The man had been driving him insane on purpose, but at that moment, he couldn't find it in himself to care.
Kaedan wrapped his legs around Xander's waist and pulled him closer, "If you can tease me like this, I don't think we need to worry about that. We've got a lot of time to waste until Lumina and Mina get back anyway, so how about you spend it on me instead?" He said in a sweet voice but didn't sound as innocent as it seemed. Xander raised an eyebrow as he looked at him.
"Oh? Maybe we should wait if it means I get your attention like this—" Xander cut himself off with a yelp as Kaedan used his legs and body weight to flip them over so he was now sitting astride Xander's hips, leaning back on the man's thighs as he ran a hand through his hair, his eyes glowing in fading evening light.
"I know your games, Alexander Liu. It's not fair that I'm the only one who's worked up like this," Kaedan rolled his hips down and Xander let out a groan, his hands moving to hold the younger man's waist. Instantly, though, Kaedan grabbed both of his wrists and pressed them down against the bed, "I'm going to make sure you can't think about anything other than how good I'm going to make you feel," Kaedan murmured. Xander grinned and bucked his hips up, forcing Kaedan forward so the man was now lying on top of him.
Having perfect access to his boyfriend's neck, he attacked the soft skin there, sucking on it until a dark bruise formed. Kaedan let out a quiet moan his grip on Xander's wrists faltering, but as he felt the man under him trying to move his hands, he tightened his grip once again. Xander pouted at him, "Let me touch you, baobei?" He asked.
Kaedan huffed, "Maybe if you'd asked nicely before, I would have done just that. But you just had to go and play around."
"You know what they say, fuck around and find out?"
"And find out you will," Kaedan leaned down to murmur against his ear, "Now, if you decide you want to behave, then maybe I'll let you touch me. If not, then, I'll just have to tie you up and make you watch me do all the work."
Xander grinned, "...Bring your worst, Hernandez."