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Raising his hands to cup Danny’s face, Thomas returned the kiss. For all the desperation and frantic movement just a moment ago, he liked this kiss the best. Danny seemed to agree as they rolled to their side without breaking away.
* * *
Ray was already at the bar when Seong arrived. For a moment, Seong just stared at the other man, his heart already racing. Ray was dressed in red again, though he was dressed to match the atmosphere of the upscale hotel the bar was found in: a red-on-red suit, from what Seong could see, with red shoes, a red drink with extra cherries floating amongst the ice, even red lipstick and tasteful makeup. He should have expected that though. Ray was a professional, after all. Blending in while standing out was part of his job.
But he’s not working tonight, he told himself as the gnawing doubt tried to take over his stomach again.
Still time to leave before he notices you, a sneering voice from the darkest corner of his mind.
“Songbird,” Ray called, waving a hand and- God, he has red nails, too. “How was traffic?”
Seong couldn’t help but smile at the nickname Ray had come up with for him. It was such an odd thing to settle on, but there was something sweet about it. Innocent. “It was fine,” he said sliding into the seat next to Ray. “How about you?”
“It’s been better, it’s been worse,” he said, shrugging. “How have you been? I was expecting you to call me sooner.”
“I… had to tie some things up before the end of the year. Then I figured you would already have plans for the holidays.”
“Well you aren’t wrong there,” Ray said, fishing out one of his cherries. “Nate and I have our traditions.”
“Nate’s your-” Seong asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.
“Best friend,” Ray supplied. “Ride or die. Partner in crime. All of those things.” He smiled, his white teeth dazzling with his red lipstick. “You probably know of him at least. Nate Domitio.”
Seong’s other eyebrow shot up to join the first. “Nate Domitio as in the dog trainer?”
“Uh huh,” Ray said mildly, even as he smirked and took the cherry slowly into his mouth.
“How do you two know each other,” Seong asked him, reeling slightly from this information.
Nate Domitio wasn’t a native to the Three Rings, but had made his name known by being one of the best guard dog trainers in the city. His reputation was that of a man who knew when he didn’t see things and fearless on calling out his more dangerous clientele if they were doing poorly by their dogs. The fact that he usually did it while dressed in crop tops and short shorts with abs that could grate cheese and more colors than a rainbow only added to the reputation of not giving a single fuck what anyone else thought of him. Seong knew the man had the respect of enough gangsters in the city that all Nate would have to do was make one phone call in the catalog of clients he had and even Felinus would have a hard time protecting whoever pissed off Nate.
“Oh, we’ve been friends for the better part of a decade now,” Ray shrugged. “I met him the first day he arrived to the city and we’ve been thick as thieves ever since.” He smirked, rolled the cherry still in his mouth. “That makes you nervous?”
“Your friend has very powerful clients,” Seong said after a moment of thought on how to phrase this. “Powerful clients who would not take kindly to someone upsetting him, for any reason.”
Ray’s smirk grew. “I’m a Player, Songbird.”
“Hm, yes, that gives you protection as well,” Seong acknowledged. “No one would be stupid enough to mess with the Playhouse. Nate is just an extra layer of the same sort of protection.”
“You know he’s a Player, too,” he commented, teeth sinking into the cherry at last.
Seong hesitated. He actually knew a lot of things about Nate. It was part of his job. He knew things that Nate wanted buried and buried deep for his safety and probably those around him. “I’d heard about that,” he admitted. “Just an added layer of protection. Fucking with him is practically suicide.”
Ray laughed, a throaty affair that made more than the hairs on Seong’s arms rise. “I don’t actually know how he’d feel about you saying that,” he said, leaning forward and sliding a hand up Seong’s knee to his thigh. “But we aren’t here to discuss how my friendship intersects with your business, Songbird.”
Seong swallowed as his guts turned to water, keeping his eyes locked on Ray’s face. Fuck me, he thought as Ray stuck his tongue out to show him the perfectly knotted stem of the cherry he had been playing with.
“I plan to,” he said quietly, looping the stem on his tongue then letting it drop. “Just as soon as you say you are ready to move upstairs.”
Swallowing again, Seong became very aware of how uncomfortable his slacks were, how warm Ray’s fingers were on the inside of his thigh. Several images of where this night could go flashed in his mind, including one that didn’t even make it to the room Seong had reserved for this. But- “I’m new to this, Ray,” he breathed, not daring to move even an inch.
A kind smile, the same smile Ray had given Thomas, flashed as Ray closed in. “I know, Songbird,” he said, gently. “I’m going to show you and guide you every step. We can take it as slow as you need.” He pushed the glass of cherries towards Seong. “If you want to keep talking down here, then we’ll stay and talk. You can tell me about anything you want. If you want to go upstairs but still just talk, that is an option too.”
Seong’s eyes darted down to the glass, carefully removing a cherry and letting his nail dip into the cold red liquid. No color change. The polish couldn’t detect everything obviously, but he hadn’t really thought Ray would be so stupid to attempt to drug Seong, not after what bits he had seen with Thomas. Thomas, he thought, glancing at the clock. It was almost his curfew. Would he be home now or still out with Danny? Did they ever figure out if it was a date or not?
“Hey,” Ray said softly, his other hand resting on the back of Seong’s. “Listen, I’ve been doing this sort of thing for far too long to not know when I’m a distraction. I believe you when you say you were busy with work and then the holiday before, but that’s not why you invited me to meet up tonight.” He smiled again and Seong thought his heart would break at how sweet and understanding the other man looked. “So you have a choice. We can talk about it or we can be distracted. It’s not one or the other either. We can start distracted then talk about it. We can talk about it then be distracted. We can be distracted, talk about it, then be distracted again. I’ve got all night and no where to be tomorrow.” He took the cherry from Seong’s fingers and popped into his own mouth. “Tell me what you need, Songbird.”
Seong swallowed, not sure when he had leaned in so close to Ray until he could feel the heat of Ray’s lips against him. “Distracted,” he breathed, for once not wanting to think about anything else except the man in front of him, to just have his entire mind taken up by this single moment instead of having to think five steps ahead.
