"Huh? What kind of question is that?" Rowan growled as he sat down again. Then again, he quickly remembered how most of his tasks before were only dealt with as they came. There were days that he didn't have to do anything but eat candy or watch TV.
Right now, he had to come up with a painting one after another. He didn't have to exhaust his creative juices as he was given a long list of things to accomplish. The ones he launched were normally the ones outside that list. The paintings in Pareidolia's safe houses should be 'bought' at some point to appear legitimate. Free time was only available when he was not yet known as Pareidolia's painter.
Rowan looked away as he heard how Scott scoffed and laughed derisively. The ex-boyfriend even commented, "Look at this place, Rowan. It's not even the best they could offer, and yet you are expected to stay here. How laughable."
"Stop looking down on Duke," Rowan growled and bared his teeth at the other man. However, Scott reached out to put down his cigarette on the ashtray.
In an instant, he moved to get up and stand in front of Rowan. The painter quickly looked up to warn the other person, but Scott swooped down to pin Rowan against the single couch. A hand held him down by the shoulder, and Scott sealed their lips together.
Rowan shot his hands to push Scott away, but the other grabbed his wrists. Scott even used that force to keep Rowan from escaping the single couch. He continued to ravish Rowan's unwilling lips as if they still belonged to him—for him to taste, suck, and feel just for his own amusement.
Soon enough, the power in Rowan's push could only lessen. He stopped fighting against the push, and his breathlessness could only let his mouth open. Frustration ate his being as he felt how his body betrayed him at this very moment. His body remembered everything very well, so it continued to melt under the hold of this man his brain loathed.
"Admit it…" Scott whispered as he loosened his hold on Rowan, the other's hands falling down from weakness. "You're still looking for me. It doesn't matter what happened that night. Just a glimpse of me is enough to make you remember how good it was to be mine.
"You want to hurt me? No, you just want to see me." Scott laughed as he moved to hold the side of Rowan's face. His lips pressed against the corner of Rowan's mouth. "What are you going to do now, Rowan? Do you still want to stick with that new guy who has nothing on me?"
Rowan's body trembled. He closed his eyes and turned away, but he couldn't move away that much as Scott was holding him down. "…Duke will… Duke will…"
"Kill you?" Scott scoffed with a smile. He then caressed the cheek on his palm. "Then run away… run back. That's what you're good at, right?"
"Actually, it is painting, but you can delude yourself."
Both Scott and Rowan threw their gazes to the side, and Duke was already leaning on the cabinet directly in Rowan's line of sight. The man was in a white shirt and dark pants, his long coat folded neatly on the long couch. His arms were crossed on his chest, and he just sported a smile that could mean a thousand things. He even moved his head after seeing how Rowan stared at him.
Breaking the subsequent silence, Duke chuckled. "I heard something happened in the guesting, Rowan. I had to conclude my business faster than normal."
"…Duke…" Rowan's entire body trembled. Duke had been there for a while, and Scott was beginning to have his way with the poor artist. What if Duke assumed that he liked what Scott was doing, enough to not interfere? He couldn't even move right now.
"You've been watching? What? Does this turn you on?" Scott snorted as he pulled back from Rowan. He was not really the type to give people a free show.
"Of course, especially when Rowan gets to the part where he disembowels you for good." Duke only laughed as he moved his arms and stood straight. "Since the show is already ruined, I expect you not to show his face to any of us anymore."
Scott got off the single couch and pulled on his suit jacket to lose the creases. "You're a sick man. Staying in your presence is making me puke."
The man simply walked off as if he had not done anything. Scott left through the main door and didn't even bother closing it. Duke just followed the man with his gaze before walking off to close the door for the man who cared too little about other people's houses.
When Duke left the lounge, Rowan slid down and curled on the floor. His tears fell, and his sobs came in a rather suppressed manner. He wanted to say how scary it was, but he didn't know how Duke took the scene. There was no way Duke didn't realize how he let the other man on his body.
Footsteps came close to him, and Rowan slowly lifted his head to find Duke kneeling in front of him. "D-Duke, I… I didn't mean to…"
"Where else did he kiss you?" Duke asked in a cold tone as he didn't even put a hand on Rowan like normal. Whenever this happened, Rowan remembered how Duke would go straight to smiling and hugging him. This time, however, Duke wasn't even touching him.
"…k-kiss…?" Rowan whispered as he hung his head. Yes, those were kisses, but he felt like Scott just smeared disgusting sludge on his face now that the other had left. They burned Rowan's skin as if adverse reaction to an allergy.
At the feeling, Rowan even clawed at the floor before getting to his feet. "Can you leave me alone for now? I feel so dirty."
Instead of letting him leave, Duke slowly reached his hand to dry Rowan's eyes with his thumb. Rowan lifted his eyes to gaze at Duke, and the other person had a bitter smile. He whispered, "I feel so dirty, too. I even had to remove my coat because the smell of piss stuck to it. Do you mind if I shower with you?"
"…you're… not mad at me?" Rowan ended up asking.
"There's no point in getting angry at you, Rowan. He has a point." Duke had his other hand on the other side of Rowan's face as well. "If you don't miss him, your body will revolt at his touches as soon as he does so—not only when he leaves. Three years is nothing to ten years."
He then moved to kiss Rowan's head. "Though there is an alternative that I can also do. I just need to come to a point where it won't have any consequences…"